Brisbane Club boss urges members to accept ‘once-in-a-generation’ offer to sell building for $32m

One of Brisbane’s leading private clubs is poised to sell the freehold title to its CBD office tower home for $32m in a deal that backers say will secure its future.

CLUB WEIGHS $32M OFFER

One of Brisbane’s leading private clubs is poised to sell the freehold title to its CBD office tower home for $32m in a deal that backers say will go a long way to securing its future.

Brisbane Club president Hamish Dee alerted members by email on Thursday night about the pending contract with a joint venture between property investment giants Charter Hall and Abacus.

Following months of secret negotiations, he described it as a “once-in-a generation opportunity’’ that will ensure the club’s long-term longevity at a time when similar organisations face a very uncertain future.

Brisbane Club president Hamish Dee

Members must still approve the sale of their stake in the building at 241 Adelaide Street, where the management and tenancy rights have been owned by financial services firm Australian Unity since 1985. Australian Unity has now sold those rights to the two joint venture players.

Dee said the property has a current book value of $13m and the offer is more than twice the next highest offer received in recent years.

He stressed that the financial windfall will give the club the freedom to stay in the building or eventually relocate. The contract includes a five-year leaseback arrangement for it to remain in place over the near term.

“We have in front of us the chance to face that future in a financial state that – frankly – would be the envy of every other professional club in Australia,’’ he said.

By contrast, he warned that rejection of the deal would limit the club’s options and place it in financial jeopardy in the future.

“Although the management rights are due to revert back to us in 2063, there is a real risk that we will inherit a 75-year-old building in major need of renovation, and potentially demolition,’’ said Dee, a top gun at Morgans.

Next up is the sales job to convince members that this is the best option for the club, which has been around since 1903.

LAST DOMINO FALLS

A failed pool builder with a criminal history has pulled the plug on the last of his intact trading entities operating in southeast Queensland.

Gold Coast-based operative Adrian Caruso tipped his solely-owned firm Pure Property Group 1 Pty Ltd into liquidation this week.

He tapped Tony Lane, from the Vincents accounting group, to handle the winding up chores.

Caruso had previously retained Lane last month to liquidate his other businesses, Pure Excavations Pty Ltd and Eye 4 Investments Pty Ltd.

The demise of Caruso’s business group follows a recent move by the Queensland Building and Construction Commission to cancel both his personal license and the company license for Pure Excavations.

After relocating from Canberra, Caruso started trading in Queensland in 2015 and, thanks to a legal loophole, he did not have to obtain a new license from the regulator.

Consumers were unaware that he had been convicted on drug charges and attempts to pervert the course of justice in the ACT in 2006. He went free after a two-year prison term was suspended.

The QBCC is now investigating nearly 50 complaints that Caruso allegedly took deposits for pool construction work that was never completed.