When Harry set Sally … on a new path to a better lifestyle

Sally Bates clearly remembers an evening in 1999 when she and her husband had a perfect night in the city. They had an early dinner and went to Rent the musical at the Royal Theatre afterwards.

“We hardly ever went into the city,” Sally says.

“We had lived on the Upper North Shore while our kids were growing up and one night my husband suggested we should book a show and have an early dinner in the city.

“After I picked my jaw off the ground, I thought he was having a mid-life crisis.  At least it wasn’t a red sports car or a toupee. He had never suggested or wanted to do anything like that before. The kids had moved out of the family home so he said there was no reason we couldn’t go out and have some fun.

“We both loved the whole evening and enjoyed being in the city, immensely. After that night we ventured into the city more and a few years later, we sold our high-maintenance home at Killara and bought a unit in Meriton’s, World Tower.

“The last 20 years, we have had the very best life. We go out for dinner nearly every night, and in fact, tonight we are going to the restaurant where my husband took me on our first date,” she says.

Sally’s daughter, Kate, is now living at Meriton’s Pagewood Green and she is trying to talk her parents into selling at World Tower and moving there.

“Pagewood Green is beautiful,” Sally said. “It’s perfect for Kate.  “She has a dog and there are any number of beautiful parks to walk her.  We go there often for either lunch or dinner in one of the fabulous restaurants but we don’t want to move there. Not yet anyhow.

“We love our life and because of the high level of maintenance at World Tower, you wouldn’t think our building was over 20 years old. It still looks as good as the day we moved in,” she says.

According to founder and managing director of Meriton, Harry Triguboff, it is very important to be proactive rather than reactive in regards maintenance and refurbishment.

“I don’t do shabby,” Meriton boss, Harry Triguboff says.

“We make sure we are ahead of the game so nothing is left until the last minute.

“Lifts are a huge project so we start planning their refurbishment two years in advance – the same with the air-conditioning units.  We are already on top of the painting before the walls look tired and we change the furnishings to keep that fresh look.

“I might go into a building and notice the smallest thing like a tatty light switch cover and I will see to it that it is changed immediately.

“I have had that attention to detail my whole life. Now I have a team of people who know how to maintain the Meriton standard,” he says.

And it is because of that standard of upkeep and how tightly property is held at World Tower, Sally says they won’t sell.

“I know our daughter would like us to be in the same place, but we really have no reason to move,” Sally says.

“Over the years I have seen Harry Triguboff either in the building or walking up Liverpool Street and I always smile at him.

“I think it is amazing he is still so engaged in the business after all these years and still keeping an eye on everything,” she says.

And as Sally is talking, she mentions the restaurant her husband took her to on their first date. They were going there that night. It was originally at Haymarket but has since moved to a couple of other locations. It was also the same restaurant her husband proposed.

As it turns out, that restaurant, The Malaya Restaurant, opened its doors the same year Harry started Meriton, in 1963. While Harry introduced Australians to apartment living, Wong Tai See, migrated to Australia from Hong Kong and introduced the nation to South East Asian cuisine.

“I remember the owner well,” Sally said.

“He had an extraordinary work ethic and expected every dining experience for every patron to be perfection.

“He was to Asian food as Harry is to apartment living.

“Both businesses have lasted for over 60 years because of the men at the helm.

“Tonight, we are headed to the Malaya Restaurant which is now located at The Rocks and then to the Opera House to see Rent the musical which we haven’t seen since that first time in 1999. Then we will stroll back to our beautiful home at World Tower.

“It’s the perfect life,” she says.