People who bought property off the plan in a Parkville apartment building that is destined to be ringed by east-west link ramps have been given three choices by the Napthine government – sell now, sell within 90 days, or keep the property. Those who sell to the government will have their property valued by the state at an amount that assumes the east-west link had never been announced, then repaid their deposit, plus any capital...
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Its creators have labelled it an ”elegant” urban icon, but a damning Melbourne City Council report has warned a new apartment building almost as tall as the Rialto would oppress and stifle the neighbours. The 72-storey Southbank mega-tower was previously approved by the state government before changes to planning controls saw the developer Urban Matrix sent back to the drawing board. Months later council staff still do not like the plans for 54 Clarke Street,...
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OPINION by Tim O’Dwyer M.A., LL.B Solicitor Consumer Advocate watchdog@argonautlegal.com.au In August 2003 XYZ Holdings Pty. Ltd. entered into 11 off-the-plan contracts for the sale of apartments in a 20-unit residential building at a coastal town. Settlement was due 14 days after the establishment of the Community Title Scheme for the building. A “sunset clause” in each contract entitled either party to terminate if the project did not complete by 31st December, 2005....
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OPINION by Tim O’Dwyer M.A., LL.B Solicitor Consumer Advocate watchdog@argonautlegal.com.au Should you rely on what developers’ and their estate agents promise? A novice property buyer finds the answer to this question. In October 2009 an agent’s sign appeared on a large block near where George Jones was renting. For sale by Kyora Properties Pty. Ltd. were eighteen townhouses with construction commencing “early in 2010” and completion “anticipated” later that year. Prospective buyers were invited to “Buy...
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OPINION by Tim O’Dwyer M.A., LL.B Solicitor Consumer Advocate watchdog@argonautlegal.com.au Bronwyn Brown, wife of a Federal Magistrate, contracted to purchase an apartment in Stage 2 of a luxury river-front development. Before Bronwyn signed this off-the-plan contract, developer Tenncorp Pty Ltd delivered a comprehensive Disclosure Statement pursuant to Section 213 of Queensland’s Body Corporate and Community Management Act. Among many things this Statement included a list of equipment and furnishings – ranging from pool cleaning...
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One of Australia’s leading developers has lost a bitter war with investors after it attempted to alter the floor plan of their luxury apartment complex to house a religious movement founded and managed by its own chief executive. Crown Group sold a vision of six-star living at its future $80 million Viking development in Sydney’s Green Square, using artists’ images depicting a Ferrari showroom occupying the ground-floor space. With the pledge from Crown that both...
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Penthouse buying is an urban sport guaranteed to appeal to the competitive and successful – the position at the top of any new tower or apartment block tells the world, and those below, that you have won. Peaked. You’re top of the pile, with the best views and the biggest apartment. Melbourne’s apartment-building boom of the past decade has produced penthouses of palatial proportions, with views that take in the bay and city, and mountain...
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OPINIONby Tim O’Dwyer M.A., LL.BSolicitorConsumer Advocate watchdog@argonautlegal.com.au Conveyancing solicitors across Queensland have been anxiously scurrying to their filing cabinets to check settled and unsettled off-the-plan unit contracts following a surprise court decision. Serious repercussions could flow far and wide from this decision – not only for the state’s legal profession, but also for the local property development industry and the government. Supreme Court Justice Kenneth Mackenzie’s decision in Bossichix v Martinek Holdings turned on...
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