JM Kelly warehouse on Richardson Road, North Rockhampton, sold to Flexihire

The JM Kelly warehouse in North Rockhampton has been sold more than three years since the region’s biggest building firm went bust. Find out who bought it and what stage the liquidation process has reached.

After collecting dust over the past three years and most likely a lot of wildlife, the JM Kelly warehouse in North Rockhampton has officially been sold, while the company still owes millions of dollars to creditors.

The 4.8ha Richardson Road site has been snatched up by Australian owned equipment hire company, Flexihire.

The Brisbane-based firm has two offices in Rockhampton, with one on Park Street, Park Avenue and another on East Street in the CBD and a site in Charles Street, Yeppoon.

While a sale price could not be disclosed, the property was listed for sale through Knight Frank Rockhampton by Neale Crow for $2.95 million.

JM Kelly had bought the property for $1.525 million in 1987.

An auction of the property was held in April 2021 and the bids opened at $1.8 million and went up to $2.3 million but this didn’t meet the reserve price and it was passed in.

It was put on the market soon after.

The property, which has a combined 500sqm of warehouse space and 768 sqm office space, had been vacant since the liquidation of the JM Kelly company’s in October 2018.

At the time, it was estimated more than 200 people lost their jobs and many other businesses and sub-contractors felt the flow on effects.

Derrick Vickers of PricewaterhouseCoopers was appointed liquidator of the JM Kelly Management and JM Kelly Builders Pty Ltd companies on November 21, 2018.

New annual returns were submitted with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission in December.

At the date of the report, November 20, 2021, JM Kelly Builders had an estimated value of assets of $2,130,370.55.

The company owed 43 persons $210,860.10 in wages, 33 persons $362,489.60 in leave and 31 persons $365,356.88 in redundancy payments.

A total of $9,444,461.83 is still owed to four creditors and another 426 creditors are still owed a combined $12,141,346.72.

Since the liquidation date, the liquidators have been able to recover a total of $8,184,954.66.

In December 2020, a parcel of land at 18 Arthur Street owned by the company was sold to a local businessman for $160,000, who plans to build a unit development.

The liquidators have paid out $7,436,232.33 as there was $748,722.33 cash in the bank.

For the JM Kelly Management subsidiary, this company has assets worth $132,230.72 as of October 16, 2021.

Wages and super are owed to 27 employees to the amount of $32,120,59, leave for 23 employees of $535,758.20 and redundancy payments of $370,927.35.

A combined $347,967.32 is owed to 25 unsecured creditors and $9,199,015 is owed to one secured creditors.

For this company, the liquidators have received $399,499.60 and have paid $384,888.78.

PwC was paid $95,000 on December 1, 2020.

The liquidations are expected to be finalised by the end of 2022.