But the top banker was showing no signs of alarm when he was spotted driving a white Range Rover in the up-market suburb midmorning last week.

Grounds has so far failed to sell his 7 Fairfax Road, Mosman mansion, which has been on the market all year for $9.6 million through LJ Hooker’s Geoff Smith. Judging from the wide grin on the banker’s face though a deal on the five-bedroom property can’t be too far off.

Grounds paid $11m for the mansion nine years ago. The Grounds family have since decamped to Kirkoswald Avenue in Mosman’s Golden Triangle, presumably for its better view of the Sydney Heads. It’s a long way from the end of Woolooware Road, Burraneer Bay, where the five Grounds boys were raised.

Lofty ideals

Ragtrader turned property developer Danny Avidan, husband of fashion designer Charlie Brown, has not looked back since he turned away from the fashion industry a few years ago. Avidan is developing three apartment blocks in Sydney, and is hoping to snare a fourth site in the city, which he regards as an “iconic site”. By far the most ambitious project to date is the $75m 53-unit Foveaux apartment block Avidan is developing on the old Legion Cabs site in Surry Hills. He has pre-sold 48 apartments at an average price of $16,300 a square metre in the block, to be completed in December ahead of schedule, but has retained five apartments and the retail.

Asked whether he preferred property development to fashion, Avidan quipped: ‘‘This is exciting.” The Foveaux apartments would now fetch anything from $18,000 a square metre to $20,000 a square metre, Avidan reckons.

He’s looking for a partner for some of the ground floor retail spaces and is planning to install an all-glass elevator similar to one in Barney’s New York.

But wife Charlie Brown will not be involved in any of the interior design, however, she is expecting to launch her own designer furniture range next year. Avidan once controlled the Discovery Group that featured high-street brands such as Charlie Brown and Howard Showers.