Deli meat matriarch puts $18 million Sydney pad on the market

Maria Hunt of the Primo Smallgoods clan has put her Cremorne Point penthouse apartment on the market with a price guide of about $18 million, local sources have revealed.

Maria is the ex-wife of John Hunt, who was one half of the processed meat empire alongside Paul Lederer, the nephew of the late Andrew Lederer who founded the brand in 1985.

John, who made the AFR Rich List in 2017 with wealth of $314 million, cashed in his share of the Primo Smallgoods business for more than $240 million in 2011. In 2015 JBS Australia finalised a $1.45 billion acquisition of the Primo Group.

One could assume Maria, who shares two adult children with John and has a new partner, no longer has need for the four-bedroom, four-bathroom unit she bought for $11 million in 2020 from property industry veteran Justin Brown of Abadeen, since snapping up another residence in March last year.

Maria bought the five-bedroom, four-bathroom Mosman mansion of TV personality Sonia Kruger and her husband Craig McPherson, former head of news and current affairs at Seven, for $19 million.

The penthouse apartment has a 378-square-metre footprint and views across Mosman Bay to the eastern suburbs, Opera House and Harbour Bridge from the terrace.

There is a marble kitchen, a butler’s pantry and a palette of natural stone and soft timber.

Alon Beran of Sydney Sotheby’s International Realty Neutral Bay holds the listing and declined to comment about the guide or vendor’s identity when contacted by this masthead.

Carlton boss lists Mosman home

Robert Priestley, the president of the AFL’s Carlton Football Club and a former chief executive of J.P. Morgan, and his wife, Sydney Swans board member, Alexandra, have listed their Mosman abode as they prepare to downsize.

The price guide is $43 million to $47 million and Ken Jacobs of Forbes Global Properties, is accepting expressions of interest. Jacobs sold the home to the couple in 2004 from Greg Bundy, a former chief executive of Merrill Lynch Australia, for an undisclosed sum.

The five-bedroom, five-bathroom Federation-style mansion is gated, with hedge-like gardens and is right on the water overlooking Quakers Hat Bay.

There is a tasting room and wine cellar, gym, pool, verandahs and terraces, boat shed and access to the jetty, and interiors are neutral with floorboards, high ceilings and a white palette.

Robert announced in 2017 that he was stepping down as chief executive of J.P. Morgan after 15 years in the role, and he was appointed the president of Carlton in February last year.

Alexandra is the vice chair of Korn Ferry.

The listing comes just months after a palatial Mosman home sold for about $50 million in October, making it both a suburb and north shore record.

The six-bedroom, seven-bathroom, three-storey property was sold by the Balnaves philanthropic family just days before the estate officially launched to market. It sold towards the top end of the $45 million to $50 million guide, according to two sources with knowledge of the deal but not authorised to comment publicly.

The exact sum and buyer’s identity will be revealed at settlement.

Leather mogul lists Point Piper pad

Brian Topper, director of third-generation leather goods company AI Topper, and his wife, Evelyn, have listed their Point Piper apartment with a price guide of $12.5 million to $13 million, local sources have revealed.

Should the top end of the guide be met, they would have got back the price they paid for the two-storey abode in 2024. The couple appear to have just added a lick of paint in the bedrooms since purchasing the four-bedroom, two-bathroom unit from Goldman Sachs banker Isaac Alexander.

The Toppers also own a three-bedroom home with pool in nearby Rose Bay, bought for $3,325,000 in 1988 from Patricia Minter.

Their latest purchase is in a circa 1903 mansion that has been transformed into boutique residences. Interiors include Calacatta marble bathrooms, herringbone timber floors, high decorative ceilings and a white palette.

There are outdoor terraces and the main bedroom has views of Sydney Harbour Bridge.

Paul Biller and Ben Torban of Biller Property are accepting expressions of interest until March 13, as stated on the listing, but declined to comment on the price guide when contacted by this masthead.