Bensons Property Group’s voluntary administration leaves uncertain future for Elias Jreissati’s Chevron One penthouse

Elias Jreissati once had ambitions to list Bensons Property Group on the ASX, but its sudden fall into administration has cast doubts over hundreds of luxury apartments, including his own.

Elias Jreissati founded Bensons Property Group more than three decades ago and turned it into one of the country’s largest development groups.

Bensons Property Group’s sudden demise has left hundreds of luxury apartments in limbo, including a $50m super-penthouse belong to its chairman and founder Elias Jreissati and his wife Colleen at its ambitious Chevron One Residences on the Gold Coast.

Founded by Lebanese immigrant, philanthropist and art collector Mr Jreissati in 1994, Bensons went into voluntary administration on Friday, the latest casualty of the construction sector driven by inflationary pressures in the sector.

The Jreissati family, which separately also owns the up-market Levantine Hill Estate winery in Victoria’s Yarra Valley, is hopeful for a deal to be put to Bensons’ creditors next month that will have tradies continue to be paid, properties completed and handed over to buyers whose deposits will be protected, The Australian has learned.

This would allow Bensons to complete its pipeline of more than 1300 homes – all apartments – across Tasmania, Victoria and Queensland, but it is among the biggest casualties of soaring construction costs in the past two years that have driven many out of the business.

Bensons’ crown jewel currently under construction, Chevron One Residences worth nearly $500m, will have more than 200 apartments upon completion.

It has been marketed by the developer as the “millionaires’ tower”, with all remaining apartments priced well over $1m.

The family’s two-storey penthouse at their Chevron One development is worth about $50m.

Its website says Bensons Property Group remains committed to delivering an exceptional development that showcases architectural design, superior finishes and an enviable lifestyle.

“With each project, we strive to make a positive contribution to the local community, reflecting our 30-year track record of successful project delivery,” the website says.

The chairman of the group, Mr Jreissati has kept Chevron One’s super-penthouse, which has been valued at more than $50m.

The double-storey, crowning jewel of Chevron One will be a Sky Mansion spanning close to 2000sq m over levels 40 and 41. It will offer a sky pool, a dozen carparking spaces, and bespoke interiors designed and finished to fastidious standards.

The penthouse is among 36 Daylight Sky Homes within the tower from level 31 upwards that have just hit the market, with prices having started at $15m for the sub-penthouse when sales were launched in 2021.

Mr Jreissati has also secured several other properties in the building’s top levels for his family.

Chevron One is expected to be completed by the fourth quarter of 2025 and construction is expected to continue for the foreseeable future, with it intended that Bensons would continue to trade during and beyond the administration and receivership period.

At the start of this century, Bensons was seen as one of the fastest growing small-to-medium-sized businesses in the country and Mr Jreissati had ambitions to list it on the Australian Securities Exchange, alongside Lendlease, Mirvac and Stockland.

The wealth created from Bensons has fuelled a luxury lifestyle for the Jreissati family, owning several apartments in the Eureka Tower. Samantha Jreissati, who oversees Levantine Hill Estate Winery, sold her penthouse in the building in 2022 for $7m to move to a Toorak mansion, while Mr Jreissati has looked to sell a whole-floor penthouse on the 82nd level for $22m.

The Jreissatis also own the last remaining shell in 7 Riverside Quay, Southbank, on level 85, and have appointed Molecule Studio to fit it out as a two-bedroom home they say will be their “final Melbourne pad”.

The Jreissati family have also been active buyers inside the Eureka Tower in Melbourne.

The couple earned $16m in 2022 for another other luxury penthouse atop Rouse St’s HM@S building, shattering Port Melbourne’s residential price record by almost $9m.

Bensons is also overseeing 740 apartments across suburban Melbourne, collectively valued at $452m on completion.

It oversaw the completion of Liberty One in Footscray, a 24-storey development of 378 one, two and three-bedroom apartments and 10 retail shop tenancies across the ground floor.

The collapse of high-rise builder ABD Group during development in turn resulted in delayed completion, lost settlements and significant cost increases associated with having to kickstart a build that had stopped midway, as well as increased interest and holding costs.

Bensons Property Group chief executive Rick Curtis said on Friday the developer needed the “reset” of the voluntary administration to ensure it could continue to deliver its homes to buyers.

The couple still own the last remaining empty shell inside the Eureka Tower and have plans to develop it.

“This was not an easy decision; however, I want to assure our people that there are no plans for redundancies,” he said. “I also want to assure the hundreds of Australians who have purchased apartments in projects that we are managing, that we are taking this action to help protect their interests and the interests of Bensons Property Group. We currently have a development pipeline worth well over $1.5bn, and I am confident that we will get through this period and come out of it as an even stronger business.”

Bensons’ business has been funded through a combination of equity, institutional lending and some external investors via the now-scrapped Significant Investor Visa investment program.

It is believed Bensons had as many as 35 foreign investors that collectively invested more than $150m with the developer, but that a small number of these overseas investors were seeking to have their capital returned.

Under the DOCA proposal to be voted on next month these SIV investors will be treated equally and in accordance with the risk profile they accepted at the time of making their investments, insiders told The Australian. As part of that Bensons hopes to gain support for a pathway to recouping their capital, but without disrupting Bensons’ business.

Craig Shepard and Sebastian Hams of Korda Mentha have been appointed as voluntary administrators, while Keith Crawford and Matthew Caddy of McGrath Nicol have been appointed as receivers and managers to oversee the ongoing operation of the apartment builder.

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Originally published as Bensons Property Group’s voluntary administration leaves uncertain future for Elias Jreissati’s Chevron One penthouse