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While James Packer is busy soaking up the Mediterranean sun, the city that left its scars on the billionaire continues to rake in vast sums of money for him through a mix of high-end multimillion-dollar residential and commercial projects.
It’s been four years since Packer sold Crown casino to private equity for $8.9 billion – a deal that led to Packer saying former Victorian premier Daniel Andrews “almost ruined my life”.
Nonetheless, Packer, who at last count is estimated to be worth $5.25 billion, hasn’t soured on Melbourne, with an arm of his real estate empire, NPACT, turning soil on at least five multimillion-dollar commercial and residential developments in the city.
So, while the billionaire’s $288 million custom superyacht, IJE, sails in the waters off the French Riviera, on winter-gripped construction sites, rugged-up tradies have been hard at work on the businessman’s behalf.
Launched in 2022, NPACT was previously driven by former Crown Resorts executive Todd Nisbet, who died suddenly of a brain aneurysm last year.
When Nisbet approached his old boss shortly after the sale of Crown with the proposal for NPACT, Packer’s private company, Consolidated Press Holdings, soon jumped on board.
“Todd was a star,” Packer said. “He was my best employee at Crown, and he carried on that excellence at NPACT.”
Packer executive Lawrence Myers took over the top job following Nisbet’s death in October.
Wielding influence and keeping friends in high places have long been key features of Packer’s four decades in business, and his property development is playing out similarly.
In Melbourne’s east, a crane looms over construction of a $100 million estate in Balwyn branded Maleela Rise, which is scheduled to be completed by the second quarter of next year.
NPACT branding is on display on the hoardings that protect a mighty hole in the ground, from which a four-level complex with 41 residences will rise, but Packer’s involvement in the project is otherwise inconspicuous.
The project targets affluent downsizers with amenities you’d expect to see in a luxury hotel – concierge services, a club lounge with bar, a library and a wellness retreat with a gym and saunas.
In nearby Toorak, another NPACT-led luxury apartment project is under way, with local authorities lending a helping hand to the $400 million development’s on-site team – the Packer-backed developer Orchard Piper.
In April, Stonnington Council shut down one of the local shopping precinct’s car parks, with the public land on Carters Avenue to be used exclusively by Orchard Piper as construction unfolds.
The council has rented the space to NPACT for three years to facilitate the One Toorak Place build, which comprises 44 luxury apartments atop a mix of commercial suites, retail space and a hospitality precinct. The council will receive about $345,000 for use of the car park in the 2027 financial year – small change for the billionaire and his wealthy investors.
One suburb over in Malvern, Packer is involved in a $20 million site with plans for a 40-apartment development, again targeting wealthy downsizers.
In Kew, the businessman is pressing on with a controversial $215 million, 18-storey apartment and retail precinct that was fast-tracked by the state government. The 194-apartment project has drawn significant backlash from locals, who argue the height of the development – which is on the former site of Leo’s Fine Food and Wine – exceeds height limits for the area.
Height, however, has proved no issue in Melbourne’s CBD, where Packer and his investors are close to completing a $200 million commercial redevelopment of the historic Hotel Lindrum on Flinders Street, which is set to be transformed into a 27-storey office tower.
Elsewhere, in the Geelong suburb of Corio, which is best known as home to one of the country’s most prestigious grammar schools but is otherwise one of the more economically challenged parts of the city, NPACT is on the cusp of completing a $50 million affordable housing project called Edenville.
Battle for approval of Edenville took Packer – who owns luxury homes in cities around the world including Los Angeles, Sydney, Cabo San Lucas and Buenos Aires – more than two years to secure.
Work is now under way. Three and four-bedroom homes have a price guide of between $700,000 and $800,000. Gersh Investment Partners, headed by former ABC director Joe Gersh, is a consortium member on the project, as well as on the Maleela Rise project in Balwyn.
Alongside a 10-hectare warehousing project in Clayton, as well as residential projects in Sydney, the move to real estate is proving to be highly lucrative for Packer and his backers.
The billionaire was contacted for comment on his portfolio of unfolding development projects in Melbourne and Geelong but did not respond.
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