Operators of Cooloola Retirement Villages at Tin Can Bay go bust

Liquidators have been called in to wind up a company that owned a waterfront retirement resort and it didn’t have didn’t have adequate capital to buy back properties from residents who had decided to vacate.

THE operators of a waterfront retirement community at Tin Can Bay have thrown in the towel.

Liquidator Paul Nogueira, from Worrells, took control of Cooloola Retirement Villages Pty Ltd this week and assured us it would be “business as usual’’ for existing residents.

He said the company, overseen by directors Rodney Lohse and Lorraine Lohse, didn’t have adequate capital to buy back properties from residents in the Cooloola Waters Retirement Resort who had decided to vacate.

Cooloola Waters Retirement Resort at Tin Can Bay.

Legislation requires that the operators acquire the dwellings if they haven’t sold after a certain period of time.

“At the moment, the retirement village has had difficulty being able to resell units and doesn’t have adequate cash flow,’’ Nogueira said.

Paul Nogueira.

The complex, which features 43 brick units and communal facilities, had prices starting from under $300,000 and further development was planned.

Buyers could choose freehold ownership or a 99-year lease option.

Neither Rodney Lohse nor Lorraine Lohse could be reached for comment.

MINER DIGS DEEP

WHO knew there was a uranium miner headquartered in Brisbane?

Well there is one. It’s a little minnow trading as Alligator Energy, which just announced a major deal this week to expand in South Australia.

It’s acquiring a 47 million-pound uranium tenement near Whyalla that has sat dormant for more than decade, adding to its existing footprint in the Cooper Basin.

Alligator, headed by ex-Toro Energy boss Greg Hall, will issue nearly 680 million of its shares (valued at about $3.4 million) to acquire the site from Samphire Uranium in a deal that still requires approval from regulators and shareholders.

Who knew there was a uranium miner headquartered in Brisbane?

The listed company also has interests in Arnhem Land and, oddly enough, a cobalt-nickel project in northern Italy.

Like many of its scrappy peers, Alligator is still piling up losses, including $488,648 of red ink in the December half and $6.7 million in the last financial year.

Indeed, accumulated losses amount to a whopping $25 million and auditors have warned about a “material uncertainty’’ hanging over the company’s future.

Still, Alligator continues to survive largely through capital raisings, including a $650,000 fill up last year. The rebounding price of uranium also works in its favour.

COLDIE KINDNESS

It’s been billed as the biggest collaborative effort to date in Brisbane to brew a craft beer for charity.

An astonishing 22 independent brewers across the city, as well as six local suppliers of ingredients, have joined forces to make and sell a special beer, with all proceeds going to LIVIN, a mental health awareness group on the Gold Coast.

Archer Brewing boss Stuart Martin, who came up with the idea, told City Beat that he hopes to rustle up between $30,000 and $$40,000 from sales of the Bright New England IPA brew.

Stuart Martin

About 2600 litres of the tasty nectar will be canned next week at Sea Legs Brewing in Kangaroo Point and then distributed to all the various brew pubs. It will also be available for purchase online.

“It’s been a hard time for everyone, particularly in the beer industry with all the closures, but I wanted to find a way to help other people too,’’ Martin said.

“With our own industry struggling, I was really blown away by how many companies and people felt the same, and were so willing to help others.’’

Notably, each can will feature a note urging drinkers to kickstart a conversation about mental health with their mates.

It seems like there was just one sour note in the proceedings.

Martin had hoped to secure an exemption from the much-loathed excise tax on the beer and even wrote to Treasurer Josh Frydenberg to appeal for mercy.

But, alas, no such luck. Frydenberg’s office turned him down, meaning that about 20 per cent of all proceeds will go to the tax man. We won’t drink to that!