Chloe Aldenhoven and her cat, Little My, loved their one-bedroom Toorak apartment. Set in a sprawling 1960s block, the unit – one of 12 – is spacious and located in a quiet, leafy cul-de-sac that would usually be well out of her price range.
The 37-year-old, who works for a non-governmental organisation, had been living at 5 Stonehaven Court since October 2021, where she formed a close-knit community. She paid $450 a week in rent, still half her income, but doable.
“I think this is just one of those apartment blocks – it just feels like Melrose Place,” she says. “You’ve got a really good community and friendly neighbours, and one of the beautiful things about this property is all of these … 100-year-old trees outside from the old Coonac estate.
“It makes for really good medium-density living in the inner city.”
But her tenure there has just come to an end. In emails seen by The Age, Aldenhoven received an official notice on April 13 from Shape Property Group, the property manager of the building, to vacate her apartment by June 15, 2026.
Shape Property Group was acting on behalf of the vendor of no.5, Cape Clairault Investments Pty Ltd, a company ultimately owned by iron ore heiress Leonie Baldock, who with her sister Alexandra Burt are collectively valued at $7.86 billion on the latest Australian Financial Review Rich List. Their grandfather, Peter Wright, made his fortune in mining alongside Gina Rinehart’s father, Lang Hancock.
Public records show that Baldock, through her company, purchased the 1200-square-metre property in November 2021. It was listed for sale in October 2021. When contacted about the sale of 5 Stonehaven Court, a Cape Clairault Investments spokesman declined to comment.
Aldenhoven’s notice followed a phone call and email about the notice to vacate, sent to her in April. The email said the reason for the request to vacate was that the premises had been sold.
Under the Residential Tenancies Act, property owners can give tenants a notice requiring them to vacate the property within a certain time frame.
Aldenhoven then found out who bought it: the billionaire Bastas family.
Public records show that Georgina Bastas, the wife of Dennis Bastas – the pharmaceutical billionaire who founded DBG Health, which owns affordable cosmetics brand MCoBeauty, and is estimated to be worth $5.74 billion by the latest AFR Rich List – bought 5 Stonehaven Court in May 2026.
The Bastas family’s total spend in the neighbourhood comes to $174.6 million, including $124 million to buy Victoria’s most expensive home in Georgina’s name, the grand Toorak residence known as Coonac, which she and Dennis have proposed to transform in a renovation costing another $38.5 million to demolish some non-original features and add a double-storey extension.
Georgina also spent $12.1 million on the adjoining apartment block in 5 Stonehaven Court where Aldenhoven lived until recently.
“I was devastated. I was in tears on the phone because this place has been a real sanctuary for me ... and the cat, who really loves it here,” Aldenhoven says.
She then emailed her property manager, Shape Property Group, asking if she could extend her lease beyond June 15 for a couple of months to allow more time in finding the right rental.
“If other tenants have longer leases (I heard some have until September) would there be any possibility of being month to month for the intervening months [July to September] if I have difficulty securing another rental property before then?” Aldenhoven wrote in an email seen by this masthead.
Her property manager from Shape replied she would “need to confirm with the new owners regarding staying on until September. I will let you know about that asap”.
But Aldenhoven says despite following up, she never heard back from the new owners. On May 24, she sent an email to Shape confirming her end of lease on June 15.
“I was pretty angry about that, to be honest, that they wouldn’t ... at least give me a response,” Aldenhoven says
The tenants also received an email from the property manager after the notice to vacate saying: “As of 25/05/2026, the property has been transferred to a new owner, Georgina Bastas. The new owner is committed to ensuring that your tenancy continues smoothly and without any interruption.”
Coonac is set on about 1.09 hectares, one of the largest blocks in Toorak. The adjoining block of brick apartments bought in Georgina’s name will add about another 1200 sq m to the property. Both of the titles were bought in cash as neither property is showing a registered mortgage.
The Age has also revealed that 4 Stonehaven Court, a block of 16 flats next to Aldenhoven’s building, was also quietly bought for $13.05 million by Stonehaven Property Holdings Pty Ltd earlier this year, whose director Patrick Kypreos is a business associate of Dennis and Georgina Bastas.
Settlement documents show each apartment at number 4 Stonehaven Court was individually purchased for $815,625.
The Age is not suggesting that Dennis and Georgina Bastas have done anything unlawful.
When contacted for comment, Dennis Bastas said: “We are committed to ensuring their tenancy continues smoothly and without any interruptions.”
Shape Property Group declined to comment on the personal circumstances of clients, but confirmed the group and its directors and representatives act ethically and in accordance with all applicable legislation.
In Victoria, landlords must give a specific, legally valid reason to issue a notice to vacate.
According to Consumer Affairs Victoria, a property that has been or is being sold is a valid reason to give a notice to vacate, as long as the landlord provides proof, such as a contract of sale, or a contract of engagement/authority to sell.
Toorak’s median house price is $3.67 million, as of the June quarter, Domain data shows, while the median unit price is $1,085,500. Toorak’s median unit rent is $650 a week, while the median house rent is $1300 a week.
Another tenant of no.5, Helene, who asked her surname be withheld for privacy reasons, is also devastated. A student in her 40s with a dog, she has no back-up plan and fears she will be left homeless.
According to a notice to vacate sent to Helene by Cape Clairault Investments Pty Ltd on April 10, 2026 and seen by The Age, she had been requested to vacate the premises on or before July 14, 2026.
“We’ve been plunged into dire circumstances – we didn’t think we were going to have to move, we don’t have the financial padding to move. This was such a brutal shock,” she says. “We’ve sat here watching him [Dennis Bastas] spend millions like it’s pocket change, and we’re here counting our five cents.”
David, an 87-year-old resident of no.5 who did not want to provide his surname due to fears it would negatively impact his family, has been forced to bring forward his applications for residential aged care homes. He says he was only intending to stay though the summer.
Nickolas Naji, who has lived at 5 Stonehaven Court for nearly four years, was asked in April to vacate his unit by September 6, 2026. Since then, he has been looking for a new rental but has been struggling to find one close to the city, where he works.
“I’ve been looking around South Yarra, Brunswick, Brunswick East – there are so many people, and not many rentals,” he says. He is now looking to move further west to secure a place.
When he asked the property manager, Shape, if he could have a couple of extra months to find a place, he was refused.
“But the manager said if you find a place and want to leave earlier, there is no worries at all,” Naji says. He says he was shocked to hear that the new buyer owned so many properties already.
The vendors of Coonac were logistics boss Paul Little and wife Jane Hansen, the chancellor of the University of Melbourne, who had owned the mansion since 2002, when they paid $14.5 million. Little’s wealth is estimated at $2.12 billion after selling trucking company Toll Holdings to Japan Post in 2015 for $6.5 billion.
Tenants Victoria chief executive Jennifer Beveridge says when a tenant is given notice to vacate for sale or demolition, the first step is to make sure they’ve been given the minimum notice period.
“This notice must be delivered in the right way and on the official notice to vacate form. It must clearly state the reason why you’re being asked to leave, provide evidence, and the date they want you to leave,” she says.
“If you want to leave earlier than the date on the notice to vacate, you only need to give 14 days notice in writing.”
As for Aldenhoven, she was thrown a lifeline by friends living in a share house.
“I’m 37 – it’s not really where I want to be … in shared living,” she says.
“But it’s the safest option for me to just jump in where there’s an opportunity, rather than try to find another one-bedroom apartment at a time when all of us are leaving, and trying to look in a market that’s very tight.”
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