In 2017, James Packer paid A$60 million for the two-storey penthouse at the top of Crown Sydney, the Barangaroo tower his own company was building. It set a Sydney apartment record. According to reporting since, he has never set foot in it.
That is the most useful single fact about his property record, because it applies in some form to most of it. He owns a Beverly Hills estate he tried and failed to sell, a stake in Aspen, a polo ranch in Argentina, and until recently a 354-foot superyacht that cost a reported $200 million and which he put on the market in 2025.
This guide sets out what he owns, what he has sold, and where he actually spends his time.
James Packer’s properties at a glance
| Property | Location | Key figures | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Two-storey penthouse, the “Sky Home” at Crown Sydney | Barangaroo, Sydney | Bought in 2017 for A$60 million, a Sydney apartment record | Owned; reportedly never occupied |
| Estate previously owned by Danny DeVito, multiple structures | Beverly Hills, Los Angeles | Bought 2018 for around US$60 million; offered at about US$85 million, then withdrawn | Owned |
| Sydney mansion | Sydney | Sold 2015 for a record A$70 million | Sold |
| Ellerston polo estate | Hunter Valley, New South Wales | The Packer family estate | Control passed to his sister during a family dispute |
| Ellerstina polo ranch | Argentina | Figures not documented | Where he reportedly spends much of his time |
| Superyacht IJE, 354 feet | — | Reported cost around US$200 million | Listed for sale in August 2025 |
Who is James Packer?
James Packer is an Australian businessman, born in 1967, the son of the media magnate Kerry Packer. He inherited the family business and moved it out of media and into gaming, building Crown Resorts into one of the largest casino operators in the region. He sold his Crown stake to Blackstone in 2022.
He stepped down from the Crown board in 2018, citing his mental health, and has spoken publicly since about living with bipolar disorder. He withdrew substantially from public life at that point, and that withdrawal is the context for a property record full of houses he does not use.
He was engaged to Mariah Carey in 2016, and the couple’s rented Los Angeles accommodation during that period is covered in the account of her homes.
The Crown Sydney penthouse
Crown Sydney is a hotel and casino tower at Barangaroo on Sydney Harbour, developed by Packer’s own company and completed in 2020 after a long and contested approval process.
In 2017 he bought the building’s top apartment, marketed as the Sky Home, for A$60 million. It broke the record for a Sydney apartment. It runs across two floors with views over the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge, and it is routinely described as one of the most valuable residences in Australia, with present-day estimates around A$100 million.
Those estimates are commentary rather than transactions, and this article does not treat them as a valuation. The documented number is the A$60 million he paid.
What makes it remarkable is the reporting that he has never occupied it. A man built a tower, bought its best apartment at a record price, and then, by the time it was finished, no longer wanted to be there.
The Beverly Hills estate
In 2018 Packer bought a Beverly Hills estate for around US$60 million. It had previously been owned by the actor Danny DeVito, and comprises several structures across its grounds.
He later put it up at around US$85 million, roughly $25 million above what he had paid two years earlier. It did not sell at that price and was taken off the market.
An unsold listing at a substantial premium, followed by a withdrawal, is a common outcome at the top of the Los Angeles market and appears repeatedly on this site. The asking price reflected what he wanted rather than what the property would fetch.
Ellerston, and what he no longer controls
Ellerston, in the Hunter Valley of New South Wales, is the Packer family’s estate and polo ground, and is closely identified with his father. Control of it passed entirely to his sister Gretel during a family dispute.
He also sold a Sydney mansion in 2015 for a record A$70 million, which at the time was the highest price paid for an Australian house.
So the Australian picture is a set of subtractions: the family estate gone to his sister, the mansion sold at a record, and the record-breaking penthouse bought but never lived in.
Where does James Packer live now?
Between Argentina, Aspen and the sea, rather than in any of the houses he is best known for owning.
Reporting places him spending much of his time at Ellerstina, the polo ranch in Argentina, and describes him sharing a house in Aspen with his former wife Erica Baxter, with whom he has three children. Until recently, the most consistent answer would have been his yacht: he took delivery of IJE, a 354-foot Benetti reported to have cost around US$200 million, and lived aboard for extended periods. He listed it for sale in August 2025.
What is not documented is a primary residence in the ordinary sense. He has homes in Sydney, Los Angeles, Aspen, and Argentina, and no reliable source identifies one of them as where he principally lives.
That is unusual even among billionaires, most of whom keep an identifiable base, as the Palm Beach concentration described in the account of Kenneth Griffin’s holdings illustrates. In Packer’s case, the property is real, the value is real, and the occupancy is the missing part.
Sources
- SBS News on the A$60 million purchase of the Barangaroo residence.
- Elite Agent on the Crown Sydney Sky Home, the record it set, its later estimated value, and the reporting that he has never set foot in it.
- AFP, via Malay Mail, on the 2015 sale of his Sydney mansion for a record A$70 million.
- Robb Report and Man of Many on the superyacht IJE, its cost and its 2025 listing.
- Wikipedia for his business career, his 2018 departure from the Crown board, and the sale of his stake.
