The millionaire, the dilapidated Sydney buildings and the 50 council complaints

A dilapidated row of buildings along Parramatta Road owned by Laser Clinics Australia co-founder turned developer Babak Moini has been the subject of more than 50 complaints to Inner West Council, including allegations the site has become a dumping ground and an illegal boarding house.

Moini, a former actuary and a self-made millionaire, purchased the 11 addresses along Parramatta Road and Trafalgar Street in Annandale for nearly $30 million in late 2017 and January 2018 but he has denied having any involvement in the alleged unauthorised conversion of part of the site into boarding houses. He said he was unaware of the complaints that had been made to the council.

The Annandale properties owned by Laser Clinics Australia founder Babak Moini have been subject to more than 50 complaints to council.Credit: Steven Siewert

Several neighbours living near the destitute site all spoke about being fearful of men living there. Neighbours who spoke to the Herald did so on condition of anonymity, while others refused to speak at all.

Concerns about the conversion began in 2019. One of the earliest complaints said, “There are so many people living there we can’t count”, while another alleged a mechanics shed at the rear had been turned into four apartments.

Dozens of incident reports submitted to Inner West Council, obtained by this masthead via freedom of information laws, reveal widespread concern about the health risk of the site. On June 15, 2022, an email to the council stated the inspection of a room at 49-55 Parramatta Road had left inspectors “shocked with the condition” of the structure.

Moini was sent correspondence about the complaints, including allegations that the dwellings were unauthorised and “not safe to occupy”. Council investigators had undertaken two inspections in response to complaints of the “external component of the premises”, the correspondence stated.

Council investigated concerns the Annandale property had been converted into an unauthorised boarding house. Credit: Steven Siewert

“Council has received complaints alleging the abovementioned premises is currently being used for a purpose that is contrary for the approved use and not safe to occupy,” it said.

“Based upon the evidence obtained during these inspections, council has commenced the preparation of a brief of evidence to support an application to the registrar of Newtown Local Court to obtain a search warrant.”

Nine months later, the council received reports alleging people were living in “makeshift flats” at the rear of the property. Council was still receiving complaints in April and May last year.

Moini said all issues raised by the council had been “dealt with immediately”, including illegal squatting and the dumping of rubbish on the site.

“In respect of the 50 complaints, I have not been made aware of any. It would be illogical if these related to the last 17 months, as there has been no letting/squatting/rubbish over that period,” he said.

“I have not been involved in amending the sites for illegal rental. When made aware of a potential breach by council, I immediately asked the head lessee to ensure that we comply with the law. I had up to that point rented the entire site, rather than holding multiple leases.”

Two managers of Premier Construction, which leased one of the Parramatta Road commercial spaces from him, were responsible for managing the site, Moini said.

“Apart from building works, I do not have another association with Premier,” he said.

Moini said he was made aware that “illegal squatters were in the premises” in Annandale “around 2022”. The site manager had organised for police to evict them.

A development application was knocked back by council over several concerns about the proposalCredit: Steven Siewert

“To the best of my knowledge, there have been no illegal squatters on site for the last three years. I have been advised it is difficult to keep the squatters from accessing, as there are multiple access points and nine shopfronts,” Moini said.

“In addition, I have asked [the site managers] on multiple occasions to ensure that all activities, whether commercial or residential sub-leasing, are in accordance with all relevant laws.”

The site had been used as a dumping ground “by others” while also being used by Premier Construction “to store building material and some of their rubbish”.

Moini made his riches co-founding Laser Clinic Australia alongside entrepreneur Alistair Champion. The franchise network was sold to private equity behemoth Kohlberg Kravis Roberts for $650 million in 2017.

Moini has since splashed in the property market. He spent $6.5 million on a home in Mosman, before buying a four-bedroom, $22 million apartment on level 41 of Crown’s One Barangaroo Tower in 2021.

Laser Clinics co-founder Babak Moini: “To the best of my knowledge, there have been no illegal squatters on site for the last three years.”Credit: Nic Walker

One year after Moini’s 2018 purchase, the council received a complaint alleging the apartments, garages and terrace houses are “being turned into tiny sized studio apartments” measuring 15 to 20 metres with “no windows or emergency planning”. Council inspections confirmed the works were unauthorised.

A council investigation said officers who attended the premises did not observe any “building works taking place”. Requests for further information were not responded to. But another complaint followed in June, and then July, this time alleging an unauthorised development had converted the mechanic shop into six small flats. The council did not investigate the anonymous complaint.

The complaints to the council began arriving almost monthly. One in April last year said, “please be aware that there are still occupants within the property”.

“The entire community is very distressed. People have sold their homes and been forced out of the neighbourhood,” one complaint from June 2023 said.

Several neighbours who spoke to the Herald in early February described several “angry” men who seemed to frequent the site. Multiple sources, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said there had been altercations in the middle of Trafalgar Street, including what they described as a wild brawl a couple of years prior.

Moini planned to turn the site into a six-storey, 201-room hotel, plans submitted to council show. The development application was rejected. One concern was the proposed driveway impeding the function of Parramatta Road, while another was the plan appeared to be “more consistent with the design of a boarding house” than a hotel.

After an appeal against the decision in the Land and Environment Court in October 2023, the application was withdrawn last March.

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