Australian rugby union star Will Genia and his wife Vanessa have put their suburban Brisbane home on the market, after the former Queensland Reds player extended his contract with a Japanese club.
The ex-Wallabies and Reds scrum-half bought the three-bedroom cottage at 19 Gristock Street, Coorparoo, in Brisbane’s inner south, in 2018.
Genia announced his retirement from Test rugby in 2019, stating he would not play for the Wallabies after the 2019 Rugby World Cup and had signed on to play for Kintetsu Liners in Japan.
Genia explained that he and his wife had originally planned to build a modern home in the sought-after Coorparoo location to live in with their young daughter, Olivia.
“We had always planned on building a big family home there,” Genia said.
“It’s such a great location but life gets in the way and I’m committed to playing in Japan for the moment and I won’t be back to Brisbane for a while,” he said from Japan.
Genia described the house as “basically a blank canvas with renovation potential”.
Ray White Ascot agent Kate Collingwood said the property had received a large number of inquiries from prospective buyers ahead of its on-site auction, which is due to take place on Thursday at 5pm.
“We’ve had more than 100 groups through the cottage in just a week since we launched,” Ms Collingwood said.
“We are running a short campaign and the buyer demand has been huge.”
Ms Collingwood noted the property, which occupies a 607sq m lot and is less than 10km from Brisbane CBD, is in a “highly coveted position, central to everything”.
“Renovate further, build up and capture wonderful city views or start from scratch and build your dream home.”
