Mehajer pockets $4.35m after rezoning that led to his suspension

Salim Mehajer has pocketed a $4.35m windfall after selling a building rezoned while he was on council.

Salim Mehajer outside his Auburn home. Picture: John Grainger.

Former Auburn deputy mayor Salim Mehajer has pocketed a $4.35 million windfall after selling a building he bought for $3.65m but which was rezoned by the Sydney council to allow a taller and denser structure on the site.

Before Auburn council was sacked, Mr Mehajer received a four-month suspension —— which he challenged — after he failed to tell other councillors he owned the building at 3 Mary Street when they were debating whether to rezone the area.

Mehajer Brothers bought the two-level commercial building in 2012 and, after the zoning changes, secured development approval to build a 50m tower comprising 79 apartments and three shops.

The property was bought for $8m by a company called Raad Property Acquisition.

The windfall is a result of the rezoning as Mr Mehajer did not develop the site.

In January, the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal suspended Mr Mehajer for failing to disclose his ownership of 3 Mary Street on three occasions, between 2012 and 2013, when council was discussing the rezonings.

Mr Mehajer took the matter to the NSW Supreme Court, which overturned his banning. This was a Pyrrhic victory because the entire council was sacked in February ahead of a public inquiry examining the connections between property development and councillors.

The inquiry has completed public hearings but is yet to hand down its report.

Mr Mehajer hit the spotlight in August last year for his lavish wedding, which included a jet flyover, $50m worth of super cars and an unauthorised road closure.

He has since separated from wife Aysha, who has reverted to her maiden name, Learmonth.

Following the couple’s wedding, media investigations raised numerous serious concerns over Auburn councillors who were also property developers or employed in the property industry.

A number of council decisions have been very lucrative for Mr Mehajer.

Former mayor Le “Lilly” Lam voted in favour of allowing Mr Mehajer to develop a $30m-plus of luxury units beyond existing limits without disclosing that her brother-in-law Minh Hua was Mr Mehajer’s business partner. Ms Lam, a real estate agent, had been working at the agency with Mr Hua when he first went into business with Mr Mehajer in 2008.

Fellow sacked Auburn councillor Ronney Oueik, also a property developer, walked away with a $30m property windfall after the council rezoned a small parcel of land known as the Marsden Street Precinct.

Mr Oueik, or companies ­controlled by him, owned or had options over 14 houses and one commercial building in the ­precinct, collectively worth about $14m.

The value of the properties soared to about $45m when the council changed the zoning to allow 14-storey towers to be build in the precinct.

Auburn council administrator Viv May moved quickly to scrap two property developments when he was appointed in February, but he was powerless to stop the Marsden Street Precinct rezoning ­because it had already been “gazetted” by the state government.