By MATHEW DEARNALEY
Australian world swimming champion Ian Thorpe made a brief splash in Auckland yesterday when he flew in to drum up sales for the world's tallest apartment building.
Dubbed the "Thorpedo" for his triple Olympic gold performances, the swimmer was here for just three hours as the Sunland Group tried to lure New Zealanders into investing in its proposed 80-storey Q1 tower on Queensland's Gold Coast.
New Zealanders have already bought about 18 apartments for more than $8 million in the $600 million building, which will stand just 5.5m shy of the 328m Auckland Sky Tower on completion at the end of 2005.
Sunland managing director Soheil Abedian said his group was negotiating to sell a further 20 apartments, for a total price of between $10 million and $15 million, as an "exceptional" result of a two-day exhibition in Auckland.
Apartments are selling for between $360,000 and $3.84 million. A penthouse about 10 times the size of an average three-bedroom home will set a buyer back about $9 million.
Residents may get to splash alongside Thorpe in a 25m indoor pool, or in outdoor pools and lagoons giving more than 60m of obstacle-free swimming.
The towering 195cm (6ft 5in) 19-year-old champion has bought an apartment in the new high-rise, which is expected to get under way in July.
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