Busby Homes: Heathmont Canterbury Rd office of collapsed home builder up for sale
UPDATE: The fallout from the collapse of Melbourne home builder Busby Homes continues with its former Heathmont headquarters up for sale and more than 30 extra creditors owed money.
Outer East
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Developers are eyeing off a golden opportunity for a multistorey project in Heathmont with the old headquarters of a collapsed home builder up for sale.
It comes as liquidators revealed Busby Homes owes money to an extra 33 creditors and left two more clients with unfinished houses.
JLL is hoping to sell Busby’s former offices at 91-93 Canterbury Rd for more than $3 million.
The family owned home builder went under in late January with liquidator Glen Crisp of insolvency firm Jirsch Sutherland discovering it owed 114 creditors money and left 10 homes unfinished.
But Mr Crisp told Maroondah Leader the firm had since found there was 147 unsecured creditors and 12 unfinished houses.
He said a builder was set to work with seven affected customers to finish construction of their homes.
JLL metropolitan sales manager Tom Aylward said expressions of interest for the 1672sq m site opened last month and would close April 16.
Mr Aylward said the site was commercial zone 1 land and was ideal for apartments, townhouses, offices, aged care or childcare.
He said the owners had previously applied for a mixed-use development at the site in 2015 but it was refused.
“The proximity to the train station, zoning and underlined fundamentals of the site are really good,” Mr Aylward said.
“It’s certainly a prominent site and I think it would suit something well designed and considerate with everyone in the area.”
Mr Crisp said proceeds from the property sale would go towards Busby Homes’ debts.
“Busby Homes Pty Ltd is not the registered proprietor of the Heathmont property, therefore this not an asset of the company.,” he said.
“Any funds from the sale of the property will not be available for unsecured creditors of the liquidation.
“However, the sale proceeds will be applied to the secured creditor’s debt.”
The sale of Busby Homes’ site could lead to a second proposed apartment complex in the heart of the village.
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An application for a $7.5 million, four-storey mixed-use development at the burnt out Original Joes’ pizza restaurant at 165-167 Canterbury Rd was rejected by Maroondah Council in November.
It was set to include 25 apartments, a medical centre and a restaurant and underground parking.
Site owner Patrick Lamanna will appeal the decision at VCAT on May 4.