The receivers of collapsed developer Bathla are selling off a number of the company’s sites in a bid to pay down its debts.
The Sydney-based company entered administration in August owing more than $3 billion, with subsequent efforts to save the business falling short.
The Australian Financial Review reports two of its projects in Sydney’s north-west are officially for sale, with four other sites set to hit the market by the end of the year.
Work on all of its construction projects came to a halt in late September, leaving up to 350 staff without jobs and about 3000 apartments and homes in limbo.
Receivers were appointed that same month to take charge of many of Bathla’s finished and unfinished developments.
FTI Consulting has appointed two commercial real estate agencies to sell off the 255 unsold apartments in the 339-unit Sanctuary Quarter project on Macquarie Road in Rouse Hill, according to the AFR.
CBRE has been tasked with selling the remaining apartments in one line or in parcels, while SRM Residential has been appointed to sell the units individually.
The apartments, which range from one to three bedrooms, are spread across six buildings.
Joseph Hansell, senior managing director at FTI Consulting, expects the Rouse Hill development to attract strong interest after it received its occupation certificate in September, allowing sales contracts to be settled.
He told the AFR both institutional buyers and individual homeowners would be drawn to the quality of the apartments and their location in one of western Sydney’s growing corridors.
Another Bathla site in Baulkham Hills has also been listed for sale, with Cushman & Wakefield appointed to manage the sales campaign.
The 3552-square-metre landholding on Yattenden Crescent was purchased by the developer for $12.2 million in 2022. Bathla had planned to build a 15-storey apartment complex with 200 homes on the site.
A property in The Ponds is expected to be the next to hit the market.
The developer paid $26 million for the 2.5-hectare site on Hambledon Road in 2021, with plans to subdivide the land into house-and-land packages.
The sell-off comes as Australia’s corporate watchdog launched a formal investigation into the circumstances surrounding Bathla’s collapse.
ASIC confirmed on Tuesday that it was examining the company’s affairs in the lead-up to its administration, including the billions of dollars loaned to the developer by private credit firms.
Bathla’s managing director Bhart Bhushan blamed “perfect storm” of circumstances, including rising construction costs and the federal budget in May, for the company’s collapse.
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