Ignite Projects company Elevate Main Beach in voluntary liquidation after payment dispute with McNab

A luxury apartment developer has gone into voluntary liquidation after completing a tower that sparked an eight-figure payment stoush with one of Queensland’s biggest builders.

A luxury apartment developer has gone into voluntary liquidation after completing a tower that sparked an eight-figure payment stoush with one of Queensland’s biggest builders.

Elevate Main Beach, part of Gold Coast development group Ignite Projects, went into liquidation on Thursday, less than six weeks after launching new legal action against major Queensland builder McNab in Brisbane Supreme Court.

The parties were already contesting three civil matters in the same court, with a hearing scheduled for May 2 over one case launched by McNab.

Elevate’s sole director is Josh Foote, 47, who is also majority shareholder, with fellow developer Gary Gordon holding just under half its shares.

Josh Foote of Ignite Projects.

Gary Gordon of Ignite Projects.

Ignite’s current projects include the 67-apartment Anchorage development at the Sandstone Point Marina near Brisbane, where it’s also announced an upgrade of the marina, shops, restaurant and cafe.

It’s also proposed a 36-unit Retreat project at Palm Beach and has previously completed the sellout Cabana and Periscope developments in the same Gold Coast suburb.

Mr Foote said the liquidation would have no impact on apartment buyers in The Monaco or on any current or future Ignite developments as the other companies in the group remained operational.

“Given the project is complete, with no creditors other than a business partner owed minor amounts, we resolved to place Elevate Main Beach in voluntary liquidation,” he said in a statement.

“The decision is consistent with industry practice to wind up a company when the project it was established to develop is fully completed.”

The payment stoush between Elevate and McNab escalated last year after a disputed adjudication by the building regulator, which told the developer to cough up more than $3.6m for work on The Monaco tower at Main Beach.

The Monaco Main Beach was completed in August. Picture: Glenn Hampson

Of the $3.6m awarded to McNab, $2.7m had already been paid by the developer, leaving $900,000 to be paid as a result of the adjudication.

The $3.6m adjudication was well short of the $33 million McNab had claimed from the developer, citing a raft of delays and buyer variations to the original contract.

Mr Foote said Elevate Main Beach had “successfully defended inflated claims by builder McNab”.

“Following two adjudications under the Building Industry Fairless Act, McNab’s initial $33m claim was drastically reduced, resulting in Elevate Main Beach paying only approximately $900,000 in the first case and nothing in the second,” he said.

“The adjudicators found McNab’s submissions lacked merit, noting that many of the claimed items had already been addressed in previous claims.”

Michael McNab. Picture: Celeste Humphrey

McNab executive chairman Michael McNab said his company was a creditor of Elevate, but that the amount owed was “immaterial” to the builder’s balance sheet.

“With almost three decades of experience, McNab is well equipped to manage events like this without any disruptions to our operations,” he said.

“We are extremely proud to have completed the residences at The Monaco Main Beach to our usual high-quality standards, with owners already having enjoyed their new homes for nearly 12 months.”

Liquidator Helen Newman, of BDO Advisory, said early indications were that there was no money owed to suppliers or the ATO.

The developer broke ground on the 23-storey Monaco tower in September 2021, after a difficult two-year process which saw a proposal for “sky garages” dumped from plans after a campaign waged by anti-development activists and nearby residents.

Originally published as Ignite Projects company Elevate Main Beach in voluntary liquidation after payment dispute with McNab