The pressure on the Gold Coast property sector shows no signs of abating, with receivers appointed to another high profiled project.
Receivers Nicholas Harwood and John Greig have been appointed to four companies owned by developer John Marshall, including his company No Limit, which was developing the Fairway Island project near the upmarket Gold Coast suburb of Hope Island.
The receivers were appointed by St George bank although it is not yet known how large the bank’s exposure is.
The high profiled, $100 million project, which included 85 residential lots, was billed by Marshall as one of the last chances for buyers to acquire land in the Hope Island precinct.
Marshall acquired the 7.19 hectare site in 2003 but Marshall said in 2008 that he decided to develop the project after receiving a number of offers for the site.
However, Fairway Island could not dodge the economic downturn that belted the Gold Coast in 2008 and 2009, and Marshall was forced to slash the prices of lots in the development from $750,000 to $250,000.
Receiver Nicholas Harwood said in a statement that the receivers would now consider their options in regards to Fairway Island, and would look at whether to sell the site or develop the project.
“We expect to complete our assessments in the next few weeks which will allow us to determine our strategies regarding the future of the developments.”
The receivers also took control of an undeveloped block of 50 lots at Grandview Estate in the Queensland town of Ipswich, the No Limit head office in Burleigh Heads and a Storage King property in the Gold Coast suburb of Miami.
However, the receivers have stressed they have not been appointed to all properties and entities within the No Limit group.
No Limit and Marshall hit the headlines in September 2007 when it sold a development site in the suburb of Beenleigh to listed property company Devine Limited to $20 million.
James was the editor and publisher of SmartCompany and LeadingCompany for five years. He is now the Australian Financial Review‘s companies & markets editor, and a former BRW editor.
