Prominent Hunter Valley winemaker and entrepreneur Lisa McGuigan has dropped $8.5 million on a residence in a landmark luxury development.
Cotality's updated property records reveal the fourth-generation winemaker - who founded the Tempus Two label, Lisa McGuigan Wines and Pokolbin's Vamp Wine Room - snapped up a three-bedroom, 160-square-metre apartment in the newly completed 111 Castlereagh Street complex in Sydney's CBD.
Designed by FJC Studio, the $1 billion mixed-use redevelopment transformed the heritage-listed 1938 David Jones menswear building into commercial and retail space, capped by a 22-level "floating tower".
The development features 98 apartments alongside amenities including a rooftop pool and a dog park.
Developer Cbus Property, which worked with Scentre Group on the project, described the transformation as preserving "the spirit and ambition of the original building while introducing new uses that respond to how people want to live, work and experience the city today."
While substantial, Ms McGuigan's $8.5 million outlay isn't the highest in the complex.
Cotality records show five apartments have settled for more than $10 million, including one sold for $13.7 million.
Ms McGuigan is no stranger to Sydney's prestige property market, having held homes in Potts Point's Pomeroy building and The Residence on Hyde Park.
It is understood she retains her Hunter Valley base at The Vintage.
High-end real estate buys run in the family.
Her father, veteran winemaker Brian McGuigan, is understood to have paid a then-record $6.5 million for a 325-square-metre penthouse in Third.i's Dairy Farmers Towers in Newcastle.
Mr McGuigan is also one of 70 investors backing the new $130 million Laval Hunter Valley hotel and spa planned for Pokolbin.
The luxury hotel, which will charge from $940 a night per villa, is expected to be completed by mid-2027.
Mr McGuigan and his wife, Fay, sold their long-held family estate on Hermitage Road in Pokolbin to Third.i co-founder Luke Berry.
Mr Berry and his wife, Meg, have since renovated the 10-acre property into a luxury wedding venue named McGuigan House - a deal sparked by a casual conversation with Lisa over lunch.
"We wanted to buy a property in the Hunter Valley, and we shared the news with Lisa, and she said, 'Stop there, you are going to buy my mum and dad's house,'" Mr Berry told the Newcastle Herald in 2024.
"We went that afternoon to meet them and immediately said, 'This is us.' We were also thinking about our wedding at the time, so it was meant to be."
