Adrian bought a glamorous new home. Then there was a $3000-a-year catch

It looked a fabulous prospect: living in a “lifestyle” tower above a five-star hotel with a rooftop infinity pool and 24-hour fitness centre that apartment owners would be able to use.

“Dive in,” the sales brochure urged. “The elevated infinity pool provides the perfect place for a swim to start the day, or to unwind as the sun sets with views of the Melbourne skyline.”

Adrian Cropley, Jenny Holmes and Ian Henson in front of the Normanby Building in Southbank.Credit: Luis Enrique Ascui

But after buying off the plan, the new owners discovered a catch. They would each have to pay up to $6000 a year, per apartment, to access all the facilities. Later, after vigorous protests, this was halved to $3000.

That was just the start of the turmoil that has plagued the 40-level Normanby building in Melbourne’s Southbank, which doubles as the hotel AC by Marriott.

There have been complaints about rocketing levies and the developer and his employees sitting on the strata committee, which have led to a case at the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal, and demands for an inquiry by Consumer Affairs Victoria.

Capital Alliance developer Mohan Du, meanwhile, insists it’s all part of a “campaign of disinformation”.

“We were told there would maybe be a small fee for use of the facilities, but nothing like that at all,” said Adrian Cropley, 58, a strategic adviser and executive coach who bought a three-bedroom apartment in the Normanby building off the plan in 2018 and moved in during April 2022.

“We were so shocked. We’d bought into the vision we were offered of a lifestyle building, but instead we found we were buying into a financial nightmare.”

Du is the chief executive of Capital Alliance which is also the owner of the tower, with the first 19 floors containing 200 hotel rooms and the higher levels the apartments. He lives in the building’s penthouse and acts as chair of the owners corporation. He says such a fee is for the benefit of the owners. Many are overseas investors.

“Yes, a selling point was the pool and gym,” he said. “But they sit under the title of the hotel to reduce owners’ corporation fees. I’ve lived in apartments for the last 10 years and don’t use the facilities frequently. So this gives apartment owners the option of not having to pay if they don’t use them.

“[The fee charged] is up to the hotel manager. We’ve tried to do our very best to help owners over the price, but unfortunately, it has nothing to do with me. We own the hotel real estate but we don’t manage the hotel.”

Strata levies have rocketed since the owners moved in, with Cropley’s quarterly levies rising from $4500 a year to $12,000 a year, on his bills.

Du says that is only to be expected. “As the developer, when we complete the building, the owners’ corporation fees would naturally be lower because every new building has a 12-month defect liability period and everything is serviced for free in the first year,” he said.

“In the second year onwards, those things are no longer free, so costs do go up. I pay close to $35,000 a year, but that’s nothing to do with me and Capital Alliance.”

After an AGM late last year, Du was appointed to oversee the strata committee that runs the building, as chair, with his company’s chief financial officer Kalvin Yeoh and chief operating officer Nancy Cao also part of the ruling body. The company’s chief investment officer Jason Huang is the building’s facilities manager.

The AGM late last year degenerated into chaos after a number of proxies were presented by Du, Yeoh and Cao, and others by an owner who is a Capital Alliance employee, another owner who lists his address for notices as the Capital Alliance office, according to the strata roll, and another known to be close to Du.

At the VCAT directions hearing on March 3, 2025, Cropley, who launched the action with others and was at the time of the AGM the secretary of the strata committee, asked for the last AGM to be declared invalid in his submission because of what he described as “procedural irregularities, conflicts of interest and improper election processes”. A full disclosure of ballot records was being sought. Cropley and the others have since withdrawn or indicated an intention to withdraw the VCAT action.

Jenny Holmes, 64, a retired university maths tutor who bought into the building 18 months ago, says she walked out of the AGM. “I got there and they had all these proxy votes for people who worked for Capital Alliance that no one was allowed to inspect,” she said.

Apartment dwellers can view the Melbourne skyline.Credit: Joe Armao

“We had no idea if they were valid or not. So there was no point in voting for anything as our votes wouldn’t count at all. … Over 18 months, we had no working air-conditioning for a month, the lift broke down for a period and the car stacker is always breaking down, and you call the maintenance company and they never answer.”

This masthead called the company and didn’t receive a response.

Du said he and his employees were all residents in the building and at on the committee to represent their own interests as owners of apartments rather than as the developer.

“I’m a private resident and I represent my own house; it’s got nothing to do with the business,” he said. “This is all part of a campaign of disinformation, and a lot of these matters are now before VCAT.”

But the strata committee won’t provide access to the body corporate register, or to financial records, as well as those proxies, alleges another owner, senior telco manager Peter West, 71.

This masthead has seen an email trail from February 13, 2025 that contains six requests from West for information to the strata managers, rebuffed with responses such as, “I don’t know what you mean”, “I need more details”, “I need specific dates and documents you wish to see”, which, the email chain demonstrated, have all been provided.

“If there were some transparency and openness, a lot of the problems might go away,” said West. “But we’re not allowed to see contracts, or accounts, or anything. I’ve lodged a case with [Consumer Affairs Victoria], and a lot of the owners want an inquiry

A Consumer Affairs Victoria spokesperson said: “Owners corporations and building developers must comply with their legal requirements under the Owners Corporations Act 2006.

“Owners in apartment and unit complexes have rights to raise and pursue complaints about the owners corporation or manager and are encouraged to contact us if they need information.”

Du argues two specific dates were set for owners to see records, but no one turned up to view them. Cropley claims those dates weren’t given to owners, but to a former lawyer for the owners who is no longer acting for them, so they weren’t passed on to anyone. The lawyer quit as his bills weren’t paid by the strata, according to the VCAT submission.

Retired accountant Ian Hensen, 67, is another owner who says the building has maintenance issues and the strata committee doesn’t function well. “It’s a complete disaster,” he said.