Property Blog - Merry Christmas

This is our last post for 2009. The team at Property Buzz is taking Christmas off and will be back with more of your property related news bigger and better is 2010.

Property Buzz wishes you all a fantastic Christmas and a very Happ New Year!!

Property Buzz

property blog - property acquisition

SURFERS Paradise bar, restaurant and nightclub complex Melbas on the Park has been sold to Queensland-based entities controlled by Michael McFie of the McFie Group for about $16.5 million.

McFie Group bought Tasmania’s Cradle Mountain Lodge earlier this year from GPT Group and owns a raft of hospitality and entertainment assets.

CB Richard Ellis agents Craig Harley, Mark Witheriff and Joel Fisher negotiated the sale of the Cavill Avenue property and nightclub business on behalf of receivers Jamie Harris and John Cronin from McGrathNicol.

Melbas on the Park has been a Gold Coast institution for nearly three decades.

It recently underwent a multi-million dollar expansion to create a new restaurant, cocktail bar and lounge with 40 gaming machines. Read the rest of this entry »

property blog - celebrity property

Generations of privileged guests have been enchanted by this astonishing property, from its exquisite craftsmanship and astonishing views to its rare private beach. Charmed since it first took shape on the high cliffs of Laguna Beach nearly a century ago, the incomparable Villa Rockledge was the vision of Frank A. Miller and Arthur Benton, the developer and architect of Southern California’s famous Mission Inn resort in Riverside.

Built on a spectacular site Miller had owned since 1887, the property was created as a gift to his wife, Marion. He called it Mariona.

 In late 1918, under the watchful eyes of Miller and Benton, the crews and artisans who built the Mission Inn began to craft this stunning residence by hand – from the thick cement foundations and retaining walls to the rustic stone towers, large open oceanside porches and ornamental chimneys. Each leaded glass casement window, heavy beam, hand-sanded mahogany floor, wrought iron railing and masterpiece timework was handmade. The process took 4 years.

As the movie industry emerged, the growing coastal resort and art colony of Laguna Beach became a getaway playground. An invitation to Villa Rockledge was a highly coveted prize. Hollywood luminaries like Clifton Webb, Robert Mitchum and Errol Flynn basked on its private beach. Bette Davis met her future husband, William Grant Sherry, on the mystical property. Read the rest of this entry »

property blog - Property Technology

Paul and Lindsey Oxley knew they’d be getting a bonus room when they signed on with Orlando–based homebuilder Bob Sorenson of Sorenson Construction.

What they didn’t know is how much they’d actually use the space. Positioned over a four-car garage, the room was spacious enough to accommodate just about anything. From the get-go the Oxleys envisioned it as a super-size storage space.

After speaking with Sorenson’s home electronic subcontractors, though, the couple was convinced that the best way to utilize the space would be to turn it into a home theatre. Luckily, the room wasn’t quite finished when Ken White and his crew at MillenniumWaves were brought on.

“We put in a floor riser and ran heating and cooling ducts to the room,” White says. A wall and doors were added to shorten the 26-foot long room and to create a dedicated area for a ticket counter, concession stand and a built-in equipment rack. The remaining space would be just the right size for the six comfy theater seats requested by the Oxleys. Read the rest of this entry »

property blog - property news

The centerpiece of an US$8.5-billion (A$9.4 billion) complex intended to redefine the Las Vegas resort experience, opens today with a lavish private party and fireworks.

Thousands of tourists and Las Vegans are expected to pour into the Aria Hotel-Casino after celebrities, moguls and other VIPs mark the official completion of the most expensive private construction project in US history.

Aria is the glass-sheathed Cesar Pelli-designed 4004-room hotel at the heart of CityCenter, a 67-acre complex of hotels, condominiums and retail on the Las Vegas Strip.

“I couldn’t be happier today,” said Pelli, the legendary 83-year-old architect best known for designing the Petronas Twin Towers in Malaysia. “This is the result of all our talents coming together to achieve a great goal.”

Pelli was on hand along with the all-star team of architects who designed five of the other projects at CityCenter including Rafael Vinoly, Daniel Libeskind, David Rockwell and Helmut Jahn.

CityCenter was the brainchild of MGM Mirage CEO Jim Murren, who conceived in 2004 the idea of using the company’s large plot of undeveloped land immediately south of the existing Bellagio casino to create a new urban center for sprawling Las Vegas. Read the rest of this entry »