Billionaire couple’s Toorak house sells for $51.5 million

The Toorak home of the late billionaire couple Marc and Eva Besen has sold for $51.5 million, records show.

But who will be lucky enough to live there next?

The new owner of the residence is a corporate entity ultimately owned by accountant Craig Holland and members of the Holland family, settlement documents show.

The Toorak home set on an oversized block of about 6300 square metres is quite an upgrade from Holland’s registered address in Hampton, which last fetched $1.73 million in 2014.

Holland is a director of family office Generation Asset Management, a former senior partner at Deloitte, and a founding director of Menarock Life Aged Care. He is also the secretary of the Naomi Milgrom Foundation and was previously on the board of retailer The Good Guys. He’s also the accountant for property developer Bill McNee, director of VicLand.

Agents on the Toorak sale were Kay & Burton’s Ross Savas and Nick Kenyon, who declined to comment on any aspect of the deal when contacted.

Holland was approached for comment.

Marc Besen was a Holocaust survivor who went into business with his wife Eva and brother-in-law John Gandel, taking over two shops started by Eva’s parents and growing them into the Sussan retail group.

His wealth was estimated at $2.23 billion on the AFR Rich List, boosted by his stake in Melbourne’s Highpoint Shopping Centre.

The beneficiaries of the Besen sale are the late couple’s children, Reserve Bank board member Carol Schwartz, property developer Daniel Besen, philanthropist Debbie Dadon and Naomi Milgrom, now the owner of Sussan.

Toorak’s median house price is $4,075,000, down 17.1 per cent in the past year to March, Domain figures show.

But prices at the top end of the market are much higher. The Myer family’s Cranlana on Clendon Road is on offer with a price guide of $96 million to $105 million.

Toorak is home to Melbourne’s record-setting sale, Coonac, which sold in February last year for a price tipped by some to be as much as $135 million and others at closer to $115 million.

Last week it emerged that another Toorak mansion had found a buyer after a seven-bedroom house listed with a price guide of $45.5 million to $50 million had a caveat slapped on it by Queensland-based Patrick Quinlivan, whose daughter is actress/model Hannah Quinlivan. Her husband is King of Mandopop, Jay Chou.

The new owner of the Besen home will be close to Chemist Warehouse co-founder Jack Gance and his wife Evelynne, who bought nearby for more than $80 million late last year.