Tall & Urban News

Administrators overseeing Melbourne’s Sth Bank development, a large mixed-use residential project, presented a proposal to sell the site and use the proceeds to repay creditors. On Wednesday, 19 March, creditors voted in favour of the director's proposal to sell the site, despite it granting them just a quarter of the debt that they are owed.

The entity behind the AUD$2.7 billion project was placed into administration last month with filings suggesting it may have been insolvent since early 2024. How much creditors will receive will depend on what is raised through the sale of the site. Approval of the proposal means deed administration can now begin. Once this deed of company agreement is formally executed within 15 business days, control of BSSPV will return to the director of the company, meaning BSSPV will exit administration.

The design was originally unveiled in 2018 with much fanfare, but the twisting twin-tower design stalled due to financial pressures, despite selling 80% of its apartments. Rising construction costs outpaced sales revenue, leaving the development financially unviable. 

In a report to creditors, administrators David Vasudevan and Lindsay Bainbridge of Pitcher Partners recommended proceeding with a joint sale of the three land titles, maintaining the development approval in place to maximize value. Many creditors are linked to Malaysian-based Beulah entities, but around AUD$5.3 million is owed to other businesses, including Cox Architecture, UN Studio, AECOM, KPMG, Arup and planning firm Urbis. The settlement is expected to take up to 18 months, but the sale option means creditors would get more than if they chose to liquidate the company. 

Learn more at The Urban Developer