Island Icon With Architectural Pedigree
Award-winning and almost invisible by design, Azuris offers a rare chance to own a waterfront foothold on tightly held Hamilton Island.
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Plenty of visitors check in for a short stay in the Whitsundays, but only a select few can stake a claim to their own piece of paradise.
Hamilton Island, home to around 200 permanent residents, is one of the only places in the Whitsundays chain where homebuyers can enter the property market.
Azuris, on the western side of the popular holiday isle, is a head-turning designer home with enviable views and an award-winning story.
The striking three-bedroom waterfront residence was completed in 2011, and a year later, architect Renato D’Ettorre was awarded a Queensland Building of the Year gong from the Australian Institute of Architects.
Now set to go under the hammer on May 10, as part of an uber auction event with Queensland Sotheby’s International Realty, Azuris will be among 12 other luxury beach houses up for grabs, including eight more on the tightly held island.
Because the Hamilton Island house is selling via auction, Queensland law forbids the agency from publishing a price guide; however, a previous attempt to list the home via private treaty sheds some light on expectations.
Last year, 5 Plum Pudding Close came to market with a guide price of $12 million.
Current selling agent Carol Carter, who is marketing the home with Sotheby’s colleague Wayne Singleton, said the overseas-based owner now travels down under less often, so has decided to offload the property.
Known locally as the “invisible house”, Azuris blends architectural pedigree with an unparalleled setting.
Positioned on a section of the island where the land falls steeply towards the water, the elevated concrete, stone and glass residence – that features a crowning layer of grass on the roof – is seemingly hidden from view.
When inside, grand disappearing glass sliding doors frame the coveted water views, while clean, contemporary lines and natural stone surfaces enhance the 21st-century beach house appeal.
On the main level, the kitchen features integrated Boffi appliances, and the open plan living space opens out to dining terraces, an outdoor kitchen, a pool cabana, and a dramatic infinity pool that merges with the Coral Sea beyond.
As an added bonus, a central tanning deck seemingly floats within the pool, positioned to take in the million-dollar views.
The main bedroom suite on the same floor has a dressing room and a large ensuite, and opens onto both the pool deck and a private lawn courtyard.
One level lower and there are two more bedrooms with en-suites and terraces, plus a second entertainment space.
Down at street level, there is a private buggy port, as no private cars are permitted on the island. Azuris also has access to a nature strip that directly connects to the water’s edge.
Hamilton Island properties are sold under a leasehold title.
The head lease of Hamilton Island is a perpetual lease from the Crown (Queensland Government), and individual properties are sold via subleases with a 99-year lease term and a further 99-year option.
The first expiry for all property subleases is 31 March 2078. Hamilton Island properties are also approved for purchase by international buyers under FIRB guidelines.
The largest inhabited island of the Whitsunday Islands, Hamilton Island has its own public airport with direct flights to Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne.
Azuris at 5 Plum Pudding Close, Hamilton Island is set to go to auction on May 10 at 3pm with Queensland Sotheby’s International Realty.
The grand harbourside residence combines sweeping Sydney Heads views, resort-style entertaining and refined designer finishes with a reported $36 million price guide.
Rising rates, construction inflation and shrinking investor confidence are pushing Australia deeper into a dangerous housing spiral that monetary policy alone cannot fix.
Office rents in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane are climbing at their fastest pace since the pandemic as tenants compete for premium CBD space amid tightening supply.
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Australia’s major CBD office markets are recording some of their strongest rental growth since the pandemic, with businesses increasingly prioritising premium office space despite elevated geopolitical and economic uncertainty.
Knight Frank’s Australian Office Indicators Q1 2026 report found net effective rents in Sydney and Melbourne CBDs rose at their fastest annual pace since COVID-19, increasing 10.2 per cent and 6.8 per cent respectively over the 12 months to March.
Brisbane posted the strongest growth nationally, with net effective rents climbing 11.7 per cent over the same period.
The report points to a widening divide between prime CBD office towers and secondary office stock, as occupiers increasingly focus on quality, location and workplace amenity when making leasing decisions.
Knight Frank Senior Economist, Research & Consulting Alistair Read said demand remained heavily concentrated in premium assets within core CBD precincts, helping drive stronger rental growth in top-tier buildings.
“Occupier demand continues to be heavily concentrated in the most desirable CBD precincts and the highest-quality buildings, accelerating a sharp divergence between core and non-core markets,” Mr Read said.
According to the report, Sydney’s Core precinct and Melbourne’s Eastern Core significantly outperformed broader CBD markets over the past year.
“In Sydney’s Core precinct and Melbourne’s Eastern Core, net effective rents surged 14.3% and 16.1% over the past year, significantly outperforming the rest-of-CBD precincts,” Mr Read said.
The rental gap between prime and non-prime office locations has also continued to widen sharply.
“As a result, core CBD rents are now 54% higher than non-core locations in Sydney and 93% higher in Melbourne, highlighting the growing premium placed on amenity, accessibility and workplace quality,” he said.
Knight Frank said the strong rental growth across the major CBDs was being underpinned by a limited supply pipeline, with few new office developments expected to be delivered in the near term.
Mr Read said subdued construction activity was likely to support ongoing rental growth and tighter vacancy rates over the medium term, particularly for premium office towers.
“The combination of sustained demand and declining levels of new development will aid ongoing prime rental growth and lower vacancy rates over the medium term, particularly for best-in-class assets,” he said.
The report noted that current economic conditions were making new office developments increasingly difficult to justify financially.
“Economic rents remain well above expected market rents, making the construction of new office towers largely unviable, and concentrating tenant demand into existing buildings,” Mr Read said.
While suburban office markets generally remained subdued compared with CBDs, Melbourne’s Southbank precinct was identified as a relative outperformer, recording annual net effective rental growth of 2.7 per cent.
The report comes as broader Asia-Pacific office markets continue to stabilise following several years of disruption linked to hybrid work trends, inflation and rising interest rates.
Knight Frank’s separate Asia-Pacific Q1 2026 Office Highlights report found Sydney and Brisbane were among the strongest-performing office rental markets in the region, behind only Bengaluru and Tokyo for annual prime net face rental growth.
The Asia-Pacific report also found 18 of the 24 cities monitored across the region recorded stable or increasing rents in the first quarter of 2026, even as geopolitical uncertainty intensified following escalating conflict in the Middle East.
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