Ashley Agostini and Evan Benjamin have bought the Petrie Village Shopping Centre in Brisband for circa $12m, sources say.
A couple who sold Sydney’s ‘Taj Mahal’ for a mega price last year have just made a savvy investment, splurging on a Brisbane shopping centre.
Ashley Agostino, 32, and Evan Benjamin, 41, who are property developers and operating under the name “Bentino”, had created the four-bedroom, six-bathroom residence at 93 Hardy St, Dover Heights.
Ashley, who was born into a family construction company and is a former hairdresser and model, and her husband bought an old home on the 544sqm block for close to $6m and spent as much again on the ”architectural triumph” with “surprise features”, including temperature-controlled cigar and wine rooms, as well as a pool with viewing window and waterfall.
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The couple sold 93 Hardy St, Dover Heights, for $17m last October.
An aerial of the Petrie Village Shopping Centre.
The centre was sold with renderings for an expansion.
It was so special that it won the 2025 Master Builders Association Excellence in Housing Award.
Then, after listing it with TRG founder Gavin Rubinstein and associate director Cae Thomas with a $15m-$16m guide, it sold for $17m last October.
So what have the couple done with the dough?
They’ve snapped up the Petrie Village Shopping Centre, a neighbourhood shopping centre 25km north-west of the Brisbane CBD, with the help of their buyer’s agents, Tas Costi and Sasha Rodriquez of Costi Cohen, and sales agents Joe Tyan and Michael Hedger of CBRE.
The centre is anchored by a 3,096 sqm “high performing” Woolworths Supermarket, with a range of other retailers such as a chemist, Australia Post, bakery and vet.
None of the agents would disclose the price they paid, but other sources said it was in the $12m range.
The Dover Heights residence won the 2025 Master Builders Association Excellence in Housing Award.
It came with “surprise features”, including temperature-controlled cigar and wine rooms, as well as a pool with viewing window and waterfall.
Ashley says they have big plans. “We’re planning to extend and add in more retailers,” she said.
She said they’d decided to venture into commercial to create cash flow rather than having “funds sitting in a pile” while they wait for development applications to go through.
“There’s a lot more uplift in a shopping centre, there’s a lot more value in that,” Ashley said.
It was Tas who found the Brisbane opportunity for them, which came with renderings for an expansion.
“We’re currently on the lookout for something bigger, with another large anchor such as a Woolworths or Coles,” Ashley said.
Costi says Petrie Village made a lot of sense: “Anchored by a full-line Woolworths and positioned directly adjacent to the train station, the asset combines secure non-discretionary retail income with future development potential in a high-growth catchment,” he said.
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