Liquidators want resort owners to take charge of development
Liquidators have called for an owner-led model to resolve the long-running “nightmare” of the Port Hinchinbrook resort and marina development near Cardwell.
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LIQUIDATORS have called for an owner-led model to resolve the long-running “nightmare” of the Port Hinchinbrook resort and marina development near Cardwell.
They have also revealed corporate regulators, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, will fund their investigations into the role played by developer Craig Gore.
Mr Gore was found guilty of six counts of fraud relating to Arion Financial, an entity not related to the Port Hinchinbrook project, in the District Court in Brisbane this week. But liquidators say Mr Gore was a public face and promoter of Port Hinchinbrook.
Port Hinchinbrook was wiped out by Cyclone Yasi in 2011 and has not recovered.
Its marina has been silted in and a series of a developers have tried and failed to develop the property, at present home to about 150 people.
Michael Brennan of Townsville firm Offermans was appointed liquidator to the last of those failed developers, The Passage Holdings Pty Ltd, in 2017.
In a just released creditors report, it says the role of Passage Holdings is “worthy of a Netflix mini series”.
“It involves all the classic plot elements – greed, a cast of murky international figures, a beautiful locale and unwitting investors who bought into a dream that became a nightmare,” the report says.
The report estimates as much as $229m in market value has been wiped from the development since 2013.
“Lot owners have lost, on average, 53 per cent of the value of their properties since 2013 and that needs to be turned around,” Mr Brennan said. “The key to turning around the development and unlocking the millions of dollars of investment on site is everyone working together.”
He wants to see the lot owners to take charge of the development by forming the body corporate needed to manage the development, including its sewerage treatment plant.
He said disputes between lot owners and developers arose when developers attempted to jack up sewerage charges.
But he warned sewerage costs could rise further if Cassowary Coast Regional Council takes over the plant.
“For years, some parties have tried to force the council to take over the sewerage treatment plant on site. The council recently released their estimate of the costs to lot owners if that plan was to be enacted,” Mr Brennan said.
“The council estimate is nearly four times the amount that residents were previously charged so it really is a case of be careful of what you wish for.”
Originally published as Liquidators want resort owners to take charge of development