Ross Pelligra, Dean Giannarelli in court with Peter Priest over failed Sandpiper Broadbeach deal

The Melbourne developers behind the $480m redevelopment of Mariner’s Cove are locked in a fiery court battle over a failed $40m Broadbeach property deal.

The Melbourne developers behind the $480m redevelopment of Mariner’s Cove are locked in a fiery court battle over a failed $40m Broadbeach property deal.

Sandpiper Developments had planned to replace the 48-unit Sandpiper tower, but claims its plans to buy out existing apartment owners were scuppered by rivals who swooped in and made higher offers using confidential information.

In the court documents, Sandpiper Developments, part of architect Peter Priest’s Trenert Group, said it had hoped to net $71.5m redeveloping the site but was now unable to do so.

Defendants in the case are Dean Giannarelli, Ross Pelligra, Paul Pelligra, Petros Dimitrious and companies associated with them including Main Beach Developments Qld (MBD), Petros Qld, and PPA Realty Investments.

Plans for a new, $480 million dollar avant-garde lifestyle precinct at Main Beach on the Gold Coast were unveiled by Pelligra Group and Giannarelli Group. Ross Pelligra, Dion Giannarelli and Dean Giannarelli visit the site earlier this year.

In documents filed in the Commercial Division of the Victorian Supreme Court, Sandpiper claims it gave MBD information that was subject to a signed confidentiality deed, after the group offered it $40m to take on the whole project.

According to Sandpiper’s claim, the spreadsheet contained details about the unit owners, including what prices they’d been offered and who had declined to sell, and was intended to enable MBD to undertake due diligence.

Instead, the claim alleges, it was used to approach owners in the building and make their own offers for the apartments.

Sandpiper Developments has planned a new apartment development in Broadbeach.

According to the statement of claim, Sandpiper pulled out of the $40m deal with MBD on May 25.

Less than a week later, the claim alleges, an altered version of Sandpiper’s spreadsheet was provided to real estate agency Urban Activation.

The claim said a representative of the agency then visited a couple who owned two units which had been under contract for $440,000 each to Sandpiper.

When Sandpiper were unable to settle the contracts, the couple terminated them and entered new contracts with Petros Qld, a company directed by Mr Dimitrious, on the same day.

Mr Dimitrious is general counsel of Mr Pelligra’s construction company Pelligra Group.

Property records also show Petros Qld paid $560,000 each for the two units in June this year.

Sandpiper’s claim alleged Mr Giannarelli had continued to approach other unit owners with offers since acquiring the two units.

Sandpiper Developments had planned a new apartment development in Broadbeach.

Sandpiper is seeking damages, compensation, profits, interest and/or costs from the defendants, and also asked for orders compelling them to transfer the two units to Sandpiper for $440,000 each or market value, whichever is less.

Victorian Supreme Court Justice Dr Catherine Button QC made an order prohibiting any of the defendants or their representatives from any further contact with Sandpiper unit owners, or taking any steps to acquire more units.

The order also prohibits the defendants from selling, leasing or otherwise encumbering the two units purchased by Petros Qld.

A defence had yet to be filed on Thursday.

Ross Pelligra, along with Mr Giannarelli’s son Dion Giannarelli, is undertaking the $480m redevelopment of Mariner’s Cove, which will incorporate a Ritz-Carlton luxury hotel.

Dion Giannarelli, who starred in this year’s season of wildly-popular reality show Married At First Sight, is not named in the court documents for the Sandpiper case, and there is no suggestion he is involved.

A render image of the proposed six-star Ritz-Carlton hotel, which is subject to DA approval.

Owners in the 43-year-old building could see some hefty profits if the property is eventually amalgamated, with many having bought in the 1980s, including one owner-occupier who paid $52,000 for her unit in 1980.

Tasmania-based Chau family’s $1m in three units between 2009 and 2018 could also be set to pay dividends if heated desire from developers further boosts the tower’s price points.

While some may be looking forward to a big payday, others have had enough of the uncertainty.

One Broadbeach resident, speaking on behalf of his mother, 87, who owns a Sandpiper apartment, said his family had been in limbo for two years since she signed a contract with

Sandpiper Developments.

“Mum doesn’t live there anymore and we can’t wait to offload it,” he said.

“The body corporate fees are just ridiculous. I’ll be happy to see the back end of it.

“You buy a home, pay for it – but then you pay the same amount in fees as you would for a whole mortgage.”

Sandpiper Developments has planned an apartment development in Broadbeach.

The man said property prices on the Gold Coast had risen sharply since unit owners signed up to sell, a factor that could be influencing some owners to hold onto their apartments.

“I know some people are holding out (on selling to a developer) and I don’t blame them in a way,” he said.

“If you’re living there in the Sandpiper, and they offer you X amount of money, where are you going to live?

“You’re going to have a totally different lifestyle.”

Aside from Sandpiper, Mr Priest’s Trenert Group is also undertaking Main Beach’s up-market White tower, which saw the $6 million-plus penthouse grabbed by entertainment entrepreneur Billy Cross and wife Jackie.