This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
A VICTORIAN construction firm has committed to finish building 375 townhouses that were left abandoned following the collapse of builder Porter Davis, but the lifeline still leaves more than 1,300 homes in limbo.
Porter Davis collapsed with 1,500 homes under construction in Victoria and 200 in Queensland, and more than 400 staff were made redundant.
Nostra Property Group will take over up to 126 townhouses designed by Porter Davis and already underway, and up to 169 developments that construction hadn’t kicked off on.
It will also step in to support about 80 retail customers of Porter Davis whose homes are yet to be commenced to provide their building services. These customers have been directly contacted by liquidators Grant Thornton and have been given the option to consider Nostra Property Group as a replacement builder.
Grant Thornton had said that there were 779 homebuyers who paid deposits without a permit being granted and construction starting on their home who may have lost their hard-earned savings. Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has said Porter Davis could be facing heavy penalties if it left customers uninsured before going bust.
“All parties worked tirelessly to achieve a positive outcome in an extremely short period of time which will see a number of jobs preserved, disruption minimised for several existing and future projects, and critically up to 375 homes built for families who have had to suffer enormous stress and anxiety following the collapse of the PDH Group,” Said Jahani from Grant Thornton said.
Nostra will be taking on 16 staff members from Porter Davis as part of the deal.
Nostra managing director Anthony Caruana, who founded the group in 2006, said, “This is a natural fit for our business, we already work with many of the same developers and myself, along with the NPG team, are excited about working with the high calibRe of people that will be joining us from the Porter Davis team.”
“Together, we will work towards not only completing the existing partially built homes in this portfolio but also those projects which are yet to commence. This will ensure that we can provide much-needed certainty to the families who have purchased a PDH-designed townhouse and they can once again look forward to having a new place to call home.”
Grant Thornton last week rejected a Melbourne business’s attempt to buy the collapsed home builder outright, saying it did not believe the bid was credible.
MIG & Sons’ offer included keeping all Porter Davis staff employed, subcontractors and completing all contracted jobs.
Victorian Deputy Premier Jacinta Allan told ABC Radio Melbourne yesterday that the government was still assessing what steps it could take to support affected Porter Davis customers.
“When there’s further detail to announce, we will make those announcements,” she said.
