A property developer serving a prison sentence for supplying cocaine has lost a court battle to demolish and rebuild a luxury home in an upmarket Sydney suburb.
Joseph Frangieh, who led boutique builder InStyle Developments, filed an application in August last year to demolish and rebuild a luxury waterfront property in Russell Lea, in Sydney’s west.
But the plans were rejected last month by the New South Wales Land and Environment Tribunal after a judge ruled the estimated $1.23 million works were not in keeping with the character of the area.
Mr. Frangieh purchased the property together with his wife Sharon in November 2022 for $5.3 million.
The following year, they filed plans with Canada Bay City Council to demolish the site and rebuild it with a carport beneath a large balcony with a swimming pool, patio and outdoor dining area.
The couple also wanted to remove 6 feet of landscaping at the rear to improve their view of the Bay Run, a popular Walk around that specific part of the Parramatta River.
But neighbors in the affluent neighborhood, where the average home price is nearly $3 million, complained that the development would invade their privacy and limit their natural light.
The development application eventually ended up in the Land and Environmental Court, where council lawyers argued ‘that the elevated, cantilevered pool and terrace area is too high, extensive and unsightly in relation to the streetscape and the Parramatta River’.
Joseph Frangieh, who led boutique builders InStyle Developments, filed an application to demolish and rebuild a luxury harbourside property in Russell Lea, in Sydney’s inner west, in August last year. Mr Frangieh bought the property with his wife Sharon in November 2022 for $5.3 million (the couple are pictured together).
The following year, they filed plans with Canada Bay City Council to demolish the property and rebuild it with a carport under a large balcony with a pool, patio and outdoor dining area (pictured: the property’s current balcony)
Ultimately, the court agreed and denied the request.
“I consider that the size of the proposed raised rear extension is a significantly unusual design element in this area,” Commissioner Shona Porter said.
‘The size, cantilevered character and variable, reduced distances to both the side boundary (north-west) and Henley Marine Parade (less than the minimum 4.59m) overwhelm the presentation of the façade to the public domain and streetscape.’
Mr Frangieh did not respond to requests for comment.
This is not the first time that Mr Frangieh has developed and sold real estate in Russell Lea.
In 2015, he sold his former home for a then-record $3.91 million, after which he moved to Lane Cove in 2016.
According to news.com.au, Mr Frangieh and his wife Sharon first put their Lane Cove mansion up for sale in 2019 for $8.8 million.
The five-bedroom home featured a five-car garage, a lighted tennis court, a solar-heated pool and nearly 2,000 square feet of “resort-like gardens.”
The couple also wanted to remove 1.8m of vegetation at the rear to improve their view of the ‘Bay Run’ – a popular walk around that particular section of the Parramatta River (pictured)
Mr Frangieh and his wife Sharon first listed their Lane Cove mansion for sale in 2019 for $8.8 million. The five-bedroom home featured a five-car garage, a floodlit tennis court, a solar-heated swimming pool and nearly 2,000 square metres of ‘resort-style grounds’ (pictured)
It eventually sold for $5.8 million in February 2021.
Mr. Frangieh previously listed himself as a director of InStyle Homes, but the company’s website was taken offline last year.
In 2016, his name appeared in the offshore leak database Panama Papers, where he was listed as a major shareholder in Silver Tiger Enterprises Limited, based in the Seychelles.
His personal website, now offline, states that he helped develop “low-cost housing in South Africa, with the aim of helping the Lebanese people cope with the suffering the war has brought them, in the form of disrupted lives, economic hardship and traumatised children.”
Another website, which no longer exists, describes him as ‘an inspiration in the world of investments’
Mr Frangieh’s name appeared in the Panama Papers offshore leaks database in 2016, where he was listed as a major shareholder in Seychelles-based Silver Tiger Enterprises Limited (pictured: Mr Frangieh in a recent photo)
Mr. Frangieh previously listed himself as a director of InStyle Homes, but the company’s website was taken offline sometime last year (pictured: the company’s former website)
“Joseph Frangieh has helped many people realize their dream of financial freedom through investing and developing in real estate,” the website states.
In 2003, Mr Frangieh and his brother Raymond pleaded guilty to cocaine trafficking.
Later that year, their father Sayed Frangieh was reportedly shot in the doorway of the family’s Merrylands home in a case of mistaken identity.
Underworld figure Ken Tan was sentenced to 12 years and four months in prison in 2009 after pleading guilty to manslaughter for allowing two men to visit the house following a road rage incident involving Frangieh’s son Raymond.
