Something is rotten in the state of Seaforth – the mystery of Middle Harbour’s half-built mansion

They may share some of the city’s most exclusive real estate with panoramic views of Sydney Harbour, but otherwise they’re worlds apart.

On one side, a group of outraged neighbours overlooking a half-built mansion on prestigious Seaforth bluff see what they consider to be an unlawfully built development which they have railed against for years beginning to crumble into the water.

An aerial view of the mansion at Seaforth on Sydney’s lower north shore last week. Credit: Wolter Peeters

On the other is the mansion’s developer, who says it’s all nothing more than a storm in a teacup.

“It’s not crumbling, there’s nothing falling into the harbour,” Peter Prasad Maharaj told the Herald. “The water is clean and clear as anything.”

Northern Beaches Council has said it is investigating whether compliance action is needed at the site, which a court found in 2020 was being built in breach of its approvals and planning laws.

It’s the latest twist in a long-running saga with a colourful cast of characters, including one of the state’s most notorious private certifiers, and Tony Maaz, a construction boss facing drugs charges, which he denies.

Prasad and Maaz both deny that Maaz did any work on the project. Maaz’s now-collapsed building company was named in a court judgment as being engaged to provide construction management services at the Seaforth site.

Daggers drawn

The 67 Seaforth Crescent development sits on one of the last vacant plots of waterfront land in Middle Harbour.

Daggers have been drawn since 2020, when neighbours were astonished to see what appeared to be a three-storey luxury residence materialising, even though approvals had only been granted for two storeys.

The advertised version of the property, left; and the vision approved by the council.

Peter Prasad Maharaj, an engineer whose family company Zoro Developments owns the land, said the disputed area was not a living space but an “underhouse” to provide structural support.

But neighbours were infuriated when promotional material displayed by a local real estate agency showed an artist’s impression of the finished property complete with three inhabited storeys and four parking spaces, instead of the approved two.

When questioned about the advertisement last week, Prasad said: “Well, anyone can do an artist’s impression … anyone can do a two-storey, a five-storey image of the place.”

“They may have an old image … the property is not for sale.”

A stink in Seaforth

In early 2020, Northern Beaches Council shut down construction at the site while it investigated the complaints, and the matter wound up in the Land and Environment court.

In court, the council complained that excavation and geotechnical piles installed under the house were not in the original plans, giving neighbours the impression an illegal third storey was being built.

The council told the court there were also two unauthorised balconies, an unauthorised staircase and a lift shaft in the wrong location among other features that were never approved.

The project was under the watch of private certifier Stanly Spyrou of Dix Gardner, who is currently banned from practising after being reprimanded in connection with 20 developments across Sydney, including a block in Alexandria that was the subject of demolition orders.

Land and Environment Court Commissioner Joanne Gray found the Seaforth residence had not been constructed in line with either a construction certificate issued by Spyrou in 2018, or the original plans approved by the council in 2007, in breach of legislation.

It was unacceptable for work to continue, and the only way for the issues to be resolved was for Zoro Developments to seek fresh approvals from the council, Gray ruled.

Three years on, the parties brokered a truce, with new plans approved by the court in September.

The commissioner found the development was now substantially the same in height and scale as originally approved. All issues raised by the council had been resolved, she concluded, including concerns about unauthorised and unapproved works.

Gray noted the council chose not to pursue its own allegation that the private certifier issued a construction certificate allowing work to commence in 2018 after the development consent had potentially already lapsed.

A council spokesperson said by the time the matter came to its attention, the window of opportunity to act under legislation had already closed.

That came as a surprise to neighbour Gordon Hargreave, who said he had been in an ongoing dialogue with council staff at the time.

“The council had informed residents that the approval had lapsed, a position that they later reversed … this gave rise to numerous queries about the site”.

Hargreave disagreed that the latest plans matched those originally approved in 2007.

A council spokesperson conceded that the lower ground floor or “underhouse” would remain, even though it was never approved by the council, but approved instead by the private certifier.

Speaking anonymously, another neighbour said it was outrageous that private certifiers could wave through changes to council-approved plans, and it set “a dangerous precedent that implies that one can simply build whatever they want.”

Residents appealed to local MP Rory Amon for help, but he said he was unable to intervene.

‘We never paid him’

A court judgment says that Elmaaz Construction Pty Ltd, which was liquidated in November with $1.9m debts, was engaged to provide construction management services at the Seaforth site.

Elmaaz sought damages for project delays to the value of $2570 per day from February 24, 2020, when the site was shut down, the judgment said.

Three months later, Elmaaz’s former boss Tony Maaz is alleged by police to have attempted to recover $13 million worth of MDMA hidden inside an excavator at a Blacktown building site.

Neighbours are concerned the half-built mansion is crumbling into the water.Credit: SMH

Maaz will face a retrial this year on charges of attempting to possess a commercial quantity of a border-controlled drug, after a trial in the NSW District Court ended with a hung jury last year.

Maaz has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Prasad and Maaz both denied he ever worked at the Seaforth site.

“He was going to get engaged to provide advice. He was not engaged, and we never paid him any money … because of the stop work order,” Prasad said.

Maaz said that the claim for damages referred to in the court proceedings was for expenses incurred as a result of the project delays.

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