New proposal submitted to MidCoast Council by $18M Forster Civic Precinct developer

A new proposal by a developer could help engineer a way forward for the disrupted $18m Forster Civic Precinct.

Overhead shot of the stalled Forster Civic Precinct development

A new proposal that will hopefully steer the $18 million Forster Civic Precinct, and its associated private Solaris project back on track, has been submitted by project developer Enyoc to MidCoast Council.

In a report to go before MidCoast Council today, General Manager Adrian Panuccio has confirmed that council is considering a revised project proposal put forward by Enyoc on November 3 to help get the project up-and-running again.

Adrian Panuccio

Cr Peter Epov

It has been stalled since April due to financial issues faced by the developer as a result of COVID-19. There has been no public update provided by either the council, or Enyoc, since May.

A copy of the new proposal has been discussed with councillors, but has not yet been made publicly available.

When the Mid-North Coast News asked as to why this was the case, Councillor Peter Epov cited that there were still commercial negotiations taking place.

“The contents are sensitive and can be described as commercial in confidence,” Cr Epov said.

“Once the matter is resolved a little bit further, then I believe council should be informing the public.”

Mr Panuccio said the details of the proposal could not be released until a detailed assessment of the proposal and other options is complete and considered by Council.

“This will take some more time and we will update the community when we can,” he said.

Artist impressions of the development

Questions with Notice asked of Mr Panuccio by Cr Epov have been responded to in today’s report.

Mr Panuccio states that he provided a briefing to councillors in October, which confirmed that the two parties - council and Enyoc - were still yet to reach a resolution.

He states: “It is now approximately six months since the project was originally halted, and to date, the parties have been unable to reach an agreement concerning a possible way forward for the project.”

“Recently, the developer advised he will be submitting an alternative proposal to council by Mid October.

“Once the details of this proposal are known, further advice will be provided to council.”

That proposal, the contents of which the Mid-North Coast News has not seen, was delivered on November 3.

Overhead shot of the stalled Forster Civic Precinct development

“Following that (October) briefing an alternative proposal was submitted to council on 3rd November 2020 and this has been discussed with Councillors,” Mr Panuccio states.

“Council will now respond to that proposal and continue negotiations with the developer under the terms of the contract.

“As council has been in a period of negotiations with the developer it was not appropriate to enforce contract provisions when discussions were continuing in good faith.”

The Forster Civic Precinct, an integrated public-private development between MidCoast Council and developer Enyoc, was approved back in September 2017 and the first sod turned on the project in January 2019.

Streetscape view of the development

A foundation and a few floors have been laid at its central Forster location on West St, but no progress made since worked stalled in May due to issues regarding the financial status of the developer who has been impacted by COVID-19.

A council spokeswoman told the Mid-North Coast earlier this month that discussions were still being had with the developer, and that more details would be available in the coming weeks.

“Council continues to work with the developer on options to restart works on site. At present there is no firm time frame on when works will restart,” she said.

The Mid-North Coast News has been unable to obtain Enyoc’s current financial status, debts owing to council or subcontractors or update on work as we’ve been unsuccessful in reaching CEO Coyne Graham for comment.