The well-heeled owners in Edgecliff’s Eastpoint Tower have always had a knack for attracting publicity,but none more so than fraudster Melissa Caddick,who snapped up one of its penthouse apartments in 2016 as an inner-city base for her parents.
The view from the balcony of the Edgecliff penthouse that fraudster Melissa Caddick bought for her parents.Kate Geraghty
Her ties to the ritzy building are about to be severed as the home goes under the hammer on October 10,allowing the curtain to finally be drawn on the messy carve-up of the dead conwoman’s estate.
TheHerald was offered a first look inside the apartment,which boasts magnificent views of the city skyline and Sydney Harbour out to North Head,before it hits the market on Tuesday.
The property,which has multiple peepholes on the entry door,features an expansive rooftop terrace,three lock-up garages and access to a pool and sauna.
The building sits atop the Edgecliff shopping complex,and residents are only a lift’s ride away from Aldi and Coles supermarkets,as well as a host of professional services,including a financial adviser and a podiatrist.
The three-bedroom apartment is expected to sell for in excess of $5 million when it goes to auction in October
Receivers hope the three-bedroom apartment will fetch more than $5 million at auction. The net proceeds will yield a final payout for investors who lost their life savings to Caddick’s Ponzi scheme.
“It’s one of the better-known buildings in Edgecliff and is the only penthouse in Edgecliff on the market,” said Bruce Gleeson,the court-appointed receiver of Caddick’s assets.
“To see this receivership asset sold is really important because it means that we’re going to be able to make another significant return to investors,and that’s always been the focus for us … particularly when in a lot of Ponzi schemes there’s not a return to investors or a very small return.”
The last two penthouse apartments to change hands in the building sold for $5.1 million in 2018 and $4.8 million in 2019 respectively.
The rooftop terrace of the apartment boasts views over Double Bay.Kate Geraghty
“That was pre-COVID,” said Gleeson,a principal at insolvency firm Jones Partners. “This area,particularly over the last 12 to 18 months,we’ve seen a kick up in prices.”
The Mirvac-built tower has been home to a who’s who of Sydney,including former car dealer Neil Sutton and the late Lady (Florence) Packer.
Receivers have spent recent months sprucing up the property,installing fresh carpet and light fittings,and painting the interior.
“It was tired and run down,” Gleeson said. He hoped this campaign would attract only serious buyers,in contrast to the sale of Caddick’s main residence at Dover Heights,which sold for $9.8 million earlier this year.
To deter stickybeaks,receivers were forced to charge a $10,000 refundable deposit for prospective buyers to tour the property.
Gleeson did not expect the Edgecliff apartment to be sold before the auction,unless the receivers received a “really superior” offer.
It is hoped the sale will allow receivers to make a further distribution to creditors before Christmas,and the receivership will be finalised by May or June.
An initial payout to creditors was made in August,with $3 million distributed among 55 investors.
Caddick was the sole purchaser of the Edgecliff property,for which she paid $2.55 million in 2016.
The master bedroom of the Edgecliff penthouse.Kate Geraghty.
However,Caddick’s parents,Ted and Barbara Grimley,claimed they had an agreement with their daughter they could live rent-free in the home for the rest of their lives and would have a 37 per cent stake in the property if they gave her $1 million to pay down the mortgage. Caddick squandered the funds on jewellery and private jets.
After a lengthy legal battle,the Grimleys recently agreed to vacate the apartment in return for $950,000 from their daughter’s estate.
Melissa Caddick’s parents Barbara and Ted Grimley.Supplied
The impending sale will bring to a close the complicated unravelling of Caddick’s affairs after she vanished in late 2020,within hours of a raid on her home by the corporate regulator over a Ponzi scheme she had been running.
Caddick had used $23.5 million in investors’ funds to bankroll her lavish lifestyle,purchasing two properties in Sydney’s eastern suburbs,luxury motor vehicles,designer clothing,artwork and jewellery.
The 49-year-old’s partial remains were 400 kilometres south of Sydney in February 2021.
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