The penthouse of a new Sydney development to be built at Circular Quay has just been snapped up off the plan for $26 million, toppling the Australian apartment record.

The four-bedroom home atop the planned 20-storey Opera Residences designed by Tzannes Architects in collaboration with Crone Partners has been bought by an undisclosed buyer, together with the two three-bedroom apartments below for $31 million in a total package worth $57 million.

The buyer – a local woman – is said to have purchased the two other apartments for her children, according to Domain.

The 104 apartments of Opera Residences on the site of the old Coca-Cola Amatil building go on sale off the plan today. There have already been more than 5000 inquiries.

Prices won’t be set until the night before the sale, but it’s likely that one-bedroom apartments will start from $1.5 million, twos from $3.5 million and threes from about $6.5 million.

The Australian apartment record was previously held by the $25 million penthouse in what’s due to be one of Australia’s tallest buildings, the Australia 108 in Melbourne by architecture firm Fender Katsalidis Architects. The closest previous sale in Sydney has been the sale of four consolidated apartments in the Toaster, for $22 million.