On the QT: Doubt stalls transfer of Burleigh apartment

OWNERS breaking a leg to cash in their chips at weary beachfront Burleigh Heads apartment community White Horses are having a struggle in heading down the front straight.

Exterior of White Horse building at Burleigh Heads Esplanade. Picture Mike Batterham

OWNERS breaking a leg to cash in their chips at weary beachfront Burleigh Heads apartment community White Horses are having a struggle in heading down the front straight.

They appeared to be galloping toward the finishing post last year in their attempt to sell the 49-unit property after a 2013 effort failed.

Then the reins were tugged by a judge and things stalled, but the sell-off move is not necessarily dead in the water.

Efforts are believed to be under way to break an impasse which has stopped a $21.8illion transfer of ownership at White Horses, initiated by developer Bill Patterson in 1960 and built in stages.

Brisbane developer Nielson Properties has a put-and-call option on the 3035sq m property, which could host a luxury apartment tower.

The option is with White Horses Pty Ltd as the units are not under strata-title but are owned via shares in the company.

When a scheme of arrangement designed to facilitate the sale to Nielson Properties was put to a vote of owners last April, 38, nearly 80 per cent, were in favour and one abstained.

Court approval was sought for the scheme but in December approval was denied.

A judge found that the scheme was fair and reasonable but that he could not approve it because the way in which the scheme was to be achieved was inconsistent with the law.

It is believed fewer than half of the 10 owners opposed to the $21.8 million offer put their opposition to the court.

In the past few weeks things appear slowly to have moved on.

Some of the original ‘won’t sell’ owners, enlightened as to apparent misconceptions over the planned sale, might well have changed their minds.

Unfortunately for the majority, ‘some’ isn’t enough to allow the deal to proceed.

It appears to be shaping up as a case of White Horses directors — and they aren’t saying boo — having to elicit what the reluctant sellers require if they are to have a change of heart.

The ‘no’ owners ostensibly could be looking for anything from more cash to the chance to obtain a unit in the planned new development.

There are moves afoot which could see Queensland follow NSW and bring in a rule that only 75 per cent of owners in a strata-title apartment property need to approve the sale of a building.

White Horses might be left out in the cold because it is held under company title, not community title.

Should the sale to Nielson not proceed, White Horses owners might be asked to chip in close to $70,000 each in repair money to avoid their ‘horse’ falling into a state of dilapidation.