Elli Cakar of Entertainment Venues Australia facing legal threat over Anzac Highway property eyesore deal
An embattled Adelaide businessman already charged with deception is now facing investor demands over a $1.85m property on Anzac Highway that has fallen into ruin.
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- Embattled developer Elli Cakar charged with deception, theft
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An embattled businessman is facing legal action over a $1.85 million property deal involving a prominent Anzac Highway property that has fallen into ruin.
Elli Cakar, who is defending separate criminal charges, bought a 1955s art deco building at Everard Park in March 2018 using funds from private investors.
Seven months later he lodged plans to demolish the house and build a 29-unit apartment development, but Unley Council said it rejected the proposal in July this year because Mr Cakar did not pay a planning fee.
In the same month his hospitality business Entertainment Venues Australia, which controlled venues including the Royal Terrace Hotel and Glenelg Pier Hotel, was placed in liquidation owing more than $6 million.
Investors took control of the Anzac Highway property and have been trying for the past four months to find a buyer for the building, which has become a haven for vandals and squatters much to the angst of neighbours.
Investor Bruce Makin, formerly of Keith but who now lives in Queensland, claimed Mr Cakar had failed to pay any of the agreed interest on the Everard Park investment.
He said “definitely” when asked if he would take legal action to seek damages.
Mr Makin said he had never met Mr Cakar. He said he and investors have personal guarantees with Mr Cakar.
Mr Cakar declined to comment when contacted this week.
Unley councillor Emma Wright said residents have raised ongoing concerns about the neglected state building, which has been tagged with graffiti and extensively damaged.
She said was one of the “grand Anzac Highway homes” that could have been renovated.
“Now we are left with a neglected house that will most certainly be demolished,” she said.
The council’s development manager Gary Brinkworth said notices had been sent to the owners to clean up the property.
Police charged Mr Cakar on October 19 with three counts of deception and one count of theft alleging he took $247,000 from investors and used the money for his own use.
Those payments were linked to a failed bid by Mr Cakar to transform an entire block in Thorngate in Adelaide’s inner north into a $1.4 billion metropolis.
His lawyers said they would be “vigorously defending” the charges.
Mr Cakar also failed to redevelop a site at Seaford Meadows for a $50 million homemaker centre.