The unfinished luxury mansion belonging to the family behind the collapsed Bathla developer group is in limbo after the company collapsed owning $3 billion.

The unfinished development in Dural near Sydney was intended to boast a swimming pool and tennis court (already excavated, as you can see from the Google Earth photograph posted by Domain). Reports suggest all work on the luxury seven-bedroom, nine-bathroom home has ceased.

Will it ever be completed (at an estimated cost of $1.5 million)? Who actually owns it – the Bathla group or, as property documents state, its co-founder Rajinder Mohan’s family?

All will be revealed as administrators pick through the bones of the Bathla business.  But either way, there could be a bargain buy on the cards for some shrewd investor.  That’s just one of the stories from this week’s feed of quirky property news from Leftfield Communications.

Free

Domain

Inside the Bathla family’s unfinished $5.5m mansion facing ‘limbo’
A look inside the Bathla family’s unfinished $5.5 million Dural mansion, meant as a trophy estate with multiple pools, now facing limbo.

The Bachelor’s Tim and Anna relist $3.75m Gold Coast pad
The Bachelor’s Tim Robards and Anna Heinrich have relisted the three-bedroom Gold Coast apartment they have owned for just a few months.

Former Real Housewife pays $17 million for Sydney home
Former Real Housewives of Sydney star Nicole O’Neil and her husband Adam have been revealed as the $17 million buyers of a grand five-bedroom Sydney mansion, Domain reports.

Craig Tiley set to lose millions on sale of Melbourne trophy home
Former Tennis Australia boss Craig Tiley is tipped to take a multimillion-dollar loss on his Aspendale trophy home, listed earlier this year as part of a move interstate.

Latecomers crash Bridgeman Downs auction but buyer hangs in after a FaceTime tour
A last-gasp bid from latecomers failed to stop a determined buyer who paid $1.66 million for a Bridgeman Downs house on Saturday, sight unseen after only a FaceTime tour.

‘They’re $95,000 better off’: The unexpected winners of the property downturn
A declining market is not all doom, Domain reports: upsizers are emerging $95,000 better off on average, selling modest homes and leveraging the wider price falls to step up into bigger or better ones.

The ‘Batman Begins’ estate is at risk of being sold off
Mentmore Towers, the Buckinghamshire house that played Wayne Manor in Batman Begins, is at risk of being sold off, Domain reports.

Late actor Tim Curry’s restored LA home sells hours after his death
A Los Angeles home the late actor Tim Curry spent years restoring has found a buyer within hours of news of his death, Domain reports.

ABC NEWS

SA Premier defends MotoGP tree removals with almost 400 now slated for chop
The SA Premier has defended plans to remove almost 400 trees from Adelaide’s eastern parklands for a MotoGP track, as the opposition raises transparency concerns.

Kangaroo mob faces cull as Western Sydney University proposes development of Werrington campus
A mob of more than 100 kangaroos faces a cull as Western Sydney University and developer Stockland look to turn the Werrington campus into a mixed-use residential neighbourhood.

Breaking: Design for MotoGP street circuit in Adelaide released
The SA government has released the design for a 4.13km Adelaide circuit to host MotoGP from 2027, with nearly 400 trees to be removed from the eastern parklands.

Realestate.com.au

The Block spends $428k as unfinished rooms mount
The Block contestants have spent $428,336 in three weeks despite unfinished rooms and criticised finishes, with almost $49,000 separating the top and bottom teams.

Dennis Quaid trades $7.2m LA home for ‘softer’ life in Tennessee
Actor Dennis Quaid has spoken about swapping Hollywood for a softer life in Tennessee, months after listing his $7.2 million California home.

‘Love it or hate it’: Bold new look divides Gold Coast buyers
A darker design palette is rolling across the Gold Coast, dividing buyers as interstate arrivals challenge the city’s decade-long obsession with white-on-white coastal looks.

NSW retirement village shortage traps thousands and freezes family homes off market
Blown-out retirement village waitlists across NSW are trapping would-be downsizers in oversized homes that could otherwise go to growing families.

REIV: Melb’s greenest suburbs command a $237,000 premium
homeowners in the city’s greenest suburbs are $237,000 better off than those in less leafy areas, a Real Estate Institute of Victoria report finds.

Busby Marou star selling luxury Currumbin Waters home during national tour
Busby Marou’s Thomas Busby has relisted his Currumbin Waters home, owned with wife Huma, with offers over $2.6 million as the band continues its national tour.

Stroke of genius: The sellers bringing street art indoors to stand out from the competition
In a buyer’s market, some vendors are using bold indoor murals and street art to help their homes stand out from the competition.

Former Easybeats home now $100m rock star
The rebuilt waterfront home on a site once owned by Harry Vanda of The Easybeats has hit the market with $100 million hopes.

Premiership Hawk James Morrissey cuts $300,000 off home price
Premiership Hawk James Morrissey has cut $300,000 from his Glen Huntly home as he chases a sale in a tricky market.

Melbourne Storm’s Harry Grant offers Richmond Airbnb to NFL fans
Melbourne Storm captain Harry Grant will open his Richmond property to fans visiting for the NFL game between the Rams and 49ers at the MCG on September 11.

‘Overwhelmed’: $14m prize home given to raffle winner during their lunch break
An Australian mum has won a $14 million Rainbow Bay sub-penthouse in a charity raffle, taking the call during her lunch break; the home was fitted out with more than $365,000 in furnishings.

The Block considers Gold Coast future beyond Victoria
The Block has eyed a future Gold Coast season, co-creator Julian Cress says, with judge Marty Fox moving there permanently next year and hoping the show follows.

Real Commercial – Free

Boutique events and millennial raves: The reinvention of Australia’s festival scene
Real Commercial charts the reinvention of Australia’s festival scene, with boutique events and millennial raves emerging as rising costs and shifting habits force promoters to adapt after Laneway trimmed its 2027 footprint.

Inside the forgotten ghost town once chosen to be an Australian capital
Real Commercial visits Australia’s forgotten “capital,” once chosen ahead of Darwin, now a Northern Territory ghost town of crumbling buildings and a pub long gone quiet.

Pay-walled

The Australian Financial Review

The Bathla family mansion has to be seen to be believed
A colour piece on the Bathla family’s north-western Sydney mansion, once imagined with multiple pools, a basketball court and a tennis court, now showing little more than a couple of old bike locks, a lone tradesman and a single slipper.

Is this ‘Rolls-Royce’ of waterfronts Australia’s next $100m home?
Point Piper’s Fairwater, Elaine and Uig Lodge, along with Toorak’s Coonac, have all traded above $100 million, and the AFR asks whether a “Rolls-Royce” waterfront could be the nation’s next nine-figure home.

Coffee scion pays $12m for modernist waterfront
Vittoria coffee scion Gabriella Schirato, daughter of “coffee king” Les Schirato, has bought a $12 million modernist showpiece in Hunters Hill on Sydney’s lower north shore.

The Sydney Morning Herald

The tiny window problem creating two classes of home owners
A “tiny window problem” is creating two classes of apartment owner, the SMH reports, with the spread of sash windows in high-rise blocks limiting ventilation and raising health and wellbeing concerns.

‘The homes we build twice’: Repair bill for climate disasters climbing faster than inflation
Solving the housing shortage faces an overlooked rival, the SMH reports: the $11.3 billion spent over four and a half years rebuilding homes damaged by extreme weather, which the Insurance Council calls “the homes we build twice” for the materials and labour they divert.

The Age

If these walls could talk: AFL legend Ron Barassi’s St Kilda home on the market
The St Kilda home of AFL legend Ron Barassi and his wife Cherryl is being sold three years after his death, with the family saying it is time to pass the torch on a true slice of Melbourne history.

The small holes making big news: An unscientific reckoning on Victoria’s roads
A lighter feature on Victoria’s pothole problem, where the open highway can mean a bone-jarring ride, and small holes are making big news on the state’s roads.

Craig Tiley set to lose $4m on sale of luxurious Melbourne house
Former Tennis Australia boss Craig Tiley is selling his Melbourne home, bought for $13.1 million, with a guide of $8.75 million, implying a loss of about $4.35 million before costs.

The Brisbane Times

Transport success at Brisbane 2032 won’t hinge on buses or trains: FIFA planner
A FIFA transport planner says the lesson for Brisbane 2032 is not really about buses or trains, Brisbane Times reports, drawing on the experience of delivering this year’s World Cup.

The Daily Telegraph

Sydney business owners slam Clover Moore’s ‘insane’ Town Hall Square plan
Sydney CBD business owners have slammed Lord Mayor Clover Moore’s $150 million Town Hall Square plan, the Daily Telegraph reports, saying the works have already turned a once-busy precinct into a ghost town.

The Courier Mail

Extreme weather sends Queensland home construction costs soaring
An average Brisbane home build now costs about half a million dollars as extreme weather pushes construction costs up faster than inflation, the Courier Mail reports, with the figures higher still in other parts of Queensland.