Chinese billionaire sells North Sydney tower for $113.888m
The property empire linked to billionaire Chinese property developer and political party donor Huang Xiangmo has sold a major North Sydney tower to private developer Holdmark for the symbolic price of $113.888 million.
The move by Yuhu Group, which has come under pressure as it embarks on a legal fight with the Australian Taxation Office and awaits a report following a NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption inquiry into allegations about donations linked to Huang, is its first significant sale to a local developer.
The sale will deliver the group a near $55 million profit as its contests the taxation case and leaves it with a smaller property operation mainly focused on managing luxury development projects in Sydney and on the Gold Coast.
Huang has made a series of moves that lessen his ties with the Australian operation, with the Berry Street building shifted into entities associated with his son Jiquan “Jimmy” Huang last year.
Huang now lives in Hong Kong, unable to return to Australia following ASIO advice to the Morrison government that he was a “foreign interference” security risk aligned with Beijing.
His family had also followed him out of Australia, according to documents released in the tax case, in which the ATO is chasing him over a $140 million debt.
Huang is contesting the tax case relating to his dealings in mainland China at a time when he was resident in Australia.
The tycoon has also denied any wrongdoing in relation to property or political dealings and last month said he wanted an investigation into property dealings after controversy arose about the acquisition of the $380 million Bakehouse Quarter in Sydney.
The Chinese billionaire already sold a half share in Yuhu’s two highest-profile luxury projects — Sydney’s One Circular Quay and Jewel on the Gold Coast — for a reported $575 million to Chinese-linked entities.
Yuhu had bought the Circular Quay project from Chinese developer Wanda in 2018 as part of a $1.18bn deal that also included the high-profile Gold Coast apartment and hotel project Jewel.
The North Sydney sale comes amid speculation about the future of the Jewel project on the Surfers Paradise beachfront.
Ownership of the three-tower project, being built by Multiplex, has been shrouded in secrecy and a local newspaper this month named Evergrande, China’s second-biggest developer, as a potential ultimate owner of the project, which could be worth $1.4 billion when finished.
Yuhu bought the North Sydney tower for $59 million in July 2015.
Holdmark confirmed it had bought 20 Berry Street for $113.888 million, with eight representing a lucky figure in Chinese culture. “The intention for the building is for it to be a long-term investment holding,” a spokeswoman said.
The building, known as Berry 20, is a fully leased office block in a blue-chip central North Sydney location. Property values in the precinct have rocketed on the back of a planned metro station and the entry of apartment developers into the area.
The building also had several recent upgrades and sports an expansive harbour and district views from the upper levels.
