Advertisement

The other, other Le Cornu site to be sold

A sports field-sized residential block in Brighton is under offer, potentially bringing an end to an ownership history that includes some of the state’s most iconic business families.

Jun 22, 2020, updated Jun 22, 2020
The 'Gentleman's Bungalow' on Sturt Rd Brighton and surrounding land is set to be redeveloped into 26 allotments, subject to council approval.

The 'Gentleman's Bungalow' on Sturt Rd Brighton and surrounding land is set to be redeveloped into 26 allotments, subject to council approval.

The Sturt Road home on almost 1ha of land was built a century ago in 1920 by Charles Wauchope, the son-in-law of John Balfour of the Balfour baking empire.

Wauchope was also an important part of the Balfour business and was its chairman when he died in 1932.

According to the City of Holdfast Bay’s historical records, the home had various owners through the 1930s, ’40s and ’50s until Lancelot Russell Le Cornu and his family purchased the property in the 1960s.

The famous South Australian furniture family have owned the property ever since.

Lancelot was the managing director and chairman of Le Cornu until his retirement in 2002.

He died in 2013, aged 94.

An aerial shot of the Sturt Rd property from the CBRE website.

The house is described as a ‘Gentleman’s Bungalow’ and has a Sturt Rd frontage spanning almost 100-metres.

Selling agent Harry Einarson from CBRE listed the property for sale in late January, spruiking the 9467sq m site as “a generational opportunity to make your mark on the premium inner western suburb of Brighton”.

The residential zoned land is listed as in the development/land and medical/consulting categories on the CBRE website.

Einarson confirmed the house had recently been placed “under offer” but said after speaking with the vendor he could not comment further at this time.

Although less controversial, the Brighton site is the latest Le Cornu property to draw attention.

Once the furniture retailer’s flagship retail store, the site at 88 O’Connell Street North Adelaide has been vacant for more than three decades following a string of unsuccessful development bids.

Adelaide City Council agreed to purchase the site for $34 million in 2017 and has entered an agreement with a developer, understood to be Commercial & General.

Details of the proposed development are expected to be announced later this year.

The Le Cornu family’s most recent retail site across 3.6 ha on Anzac Highway at Keswick has been vacant since the iconic store closed its doors in October 2016.

The site was sold a year later for a reported $25 million to German grocer Kaufland and the land has since been cleared.

But Kaufland put the site on the market in January after it abandoned its plans for an Australia-wide rollout.

Want to comment?

Send us an email, making it clear which story you’re commenting on and including your full name (required for publication) and phone number (only for verification purposes). Please put “Reader views” in the subject.

We’ll publish the best comments in a regular “Reader Views” post. Your comments can be brief, or we can accept up to 350 words, or thereabouts.

Local News Matters
Advertisement
Copyright © 2024 InDaily.
All rights reserved.