Latest news with #Palm Beach
News.com.au
19 hours ago
- Business
- News.com.au
Massive penthouse sale as beachfront tower unveiled
An interstate buyer has splashed $9.1m on a luxury penthouse set to be unveiled within days as the scaffolding comes down on Palm Beach's newest tower. The bumper off-the-plan sale is the biggest deal inked for Graya's beachfront Kloud project, the company's first multiresidential offering on the Gold Coast. Tennis ace Ash Barty is among other buyers in the 23-unit development, with the Wimbledon champion dropping close to $4m on a half-floor apartment. Winner refused to live in 'too perfect' $4m prize home Graya director Rob Gray said just three units were still available within the 41.25m-high tower. 'These have just come to market as the scaffolding starts to come down to reveal the exterior design. 'Construction hit top-out just before the penthouse was launched to the market, leaving just the interior work to be completed,' Mr Gray said. The penthouse was marketed by White Fox agent Nic Whitehead and sold within 15 days, with three offers received. 'Most of our buyers have been Queensland locals, but the penthouse sold to an interstate buyer looking to holiday in beautiful Palm Beach,' Mr Gray said. The 507 sqm penthouse spans two full floors, comprising a luxury living level and rooftop entertaining terrace with spectacular ocean views and resort-style amenities 'We wanted to capture the exclusivity of living sky high without sacrificing the experience of being barefoot on the sand,' said fellow Graya director, Andrew Gray. 'The penthouse achieves this through seamless transition from inside to outside spaces and the feeling of freedom and sophisticated comfort.' The apartment has four bedrooms, a media room, and statement kitchen with an island dining bar with stunning fluted stone accents. The private rooftop hosts a decadent indoor steam room, and a barbecue kitchen overlooking the alfresco terrace with dining area, lounging space, fire pit, spa and a pool with wading ledge. Rob Gray said the residence set a new benchmark for high-end living on the beachfront, where boutique developers were scrambling to meet demand from cashed-up local and interstate apartment buyers. Kloud was expected to be completed in November.
Fast Company
2 days ago
- Fast Company
He went undercover to catch art thieves. Now he's using tech to stop forgeries
In many ways, the case that sent Daniel Elie Bouaziz to prison in 2023 for money laundering felt like just another chapter in Ronnie Walker's storied career. Over the course of his nearly 30 years working as an undercover agent with the FBI, Walker had taken part in countless stings like this: posing as a buyer or dealer, meeting suspects in art-scented lounges or dusty storage units, working to earn their trust. He caught Warhol counterfeiters slapping fake signatures over bogus canvases. He helped recover stolen Rembrandt paintings from a Seattle-area art thief. He spent months earning the trust of Earl Marshawn Washington, the now-infamous printmaker and forger who created and sold thousands of knockoffs. The Bouaziz case stood out only for how little effort it seemed to require. His Palm Beach gallery peddled fakes—Georgia O'Keeffe, Keith Haring, and Banksy among them— marketing inexpensive reproductions as originals, aided by bogus provenance documents and falsified signatures. His con worked well, for a while at least: Pieces could fetch prices into the tens or even hundreds of thousands. Walker knew how that line worked. As a founding member of the FBI's Art Crime Team, he'd gone undercover in dozens of operations. Formed in 2004 in response to the looting of Iraqi museums and growing international art trafficking, the Art Crime Team was designed as a specialized unit of agents trained in cultural property law, art history, and international smuggling.
