Top shop: retail chief Lew buys $13.3m penthouse

Solomon Lew. Photo: Josh Robenstone

 Solomon Lew has bought a penthouse that occupies a full floor in the Royal Domain Tower.

Billionaire retailer Solomon Lew is the mystery buyer of a $13.3 million penthouse in the exclusive Royal Domain Tower, purchased from wealthy property developer Harry Stamoulis.

The full-floor apartment that overlooks the Shrine of Remembrance and Albert Park Lake includes four bedrooms, a formal entertaining area, a family room, two bars, a butler's pantry and six parking spaces. The Royal Domain building also offers a 24-hour concierge service, a pool, a gym, a library and a golf driving range.

Negotiations between the corporate heavyweights are believed to have started with a low-ball offer of $11 million from Mr Lew, while Mr Stamoulis refused to budge on a request for $13.5 million.

The Royal Domain building also offers a 24-hour concierge service, a pool, a gym, a library and a golf driving range. Photo: Supplied

A series of counter-offers and an agreement to include most of the furniture is believed to have clinched the deal, which makes the apartment one of Melbourne's most expensive.

The current record stands at $19.3 million for a penthouse in the East Melbourne development 150 Clarendon Street.

Mr Lew already owns a Toorak mansion on Albany Road, along with luxury homes in Los Angeles and New York.

In 2006, Mr Stamoulis purchased the shell for $5.54 million, before spending millions of dollars customising it into one of the largest and most luxurious apartments in the city.

A Melbourne Victory director and benefactor of Melbourne's Hellenic Museum, Mr Stamoulis will eventually relocate to Toorak, where he is building one of the nation's most expensive private residences, due to be completed next year.

In March 2010, Mr Stamoulis paid a record-setting $24 million for the former Baillieu estate on St Georges Road, and he is believed to have spent a further $25 million on the 3200-square-metre mansion.

Inspired by the the Vanderbilt family mansion Marble House in the US state of Rhode Island, the home will include five bedrooms, a ballroom, a theatre, a pool and a tennis court.

Mr Stamoulis and Mr Lew's lawyer did not respond to requests for comment from The Sunday Age.

theage.com.au 3 Nov 2013

The so called 'authorities' who are really crony business buddies allow tax evasion, the setup of 'shelf' companies for the sole purpose of tax evasion, and other various activities that if done by anyone from the 'pleb' poole, would see them doing jail time.

Assests are bought under a company structure which in turn results in negligible tax payments, only for the herd populous to mop up the bill.

Shoving opulance into the faces of poverty stricken Australians.