This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
THE future of Australia’s tallest-tower-to-be is doubt, with more reports emerging of developer Beulah struggling financially with the mammoth $2.7 billion project.
Malaysia-backed developer Beulah International has been plotting the dual-tower Sth Bnk by Beulah, on the edge of Melbourne’s CBD, with the taller of the buildings soaring 365 metres high, and the – relatively – smaller of the two to hit 295 metres.
However, Southbank News reported in August that the project may be facing difficulties due to increasing construction costs, and the Financial Review has this week reported that the developer put project manager BSSPV into voluntary administration.
That followed the project’s designers Cox Architecture and UN Studio lodging a wind-up order against BSSPV.
David Vasudevan and Lindsay Bainbridge of Pitcher Partners were appointed administrators.
Sth Bnk would comprise 701 apartments, offices, retail and a Four Seasons Hotel. Beulah has said it had sold more than 80% of the apartments – a tally it maintained into 2024, as per local media – with top-end sales coming in from $15 million to a Melbourne apartment record price of $38 million. The average price point is $1.5 million, with some sales at $534,000.
Early works were set to start early this year at the former BMW dealership site, which Beulah acquired for $101 million at the end of 2017.
Construction costs have nearly doubled since the project began as the sector grapples with capacity constraints, labour shortages and soaring materials prices.
The new year kicked off on a low note for the industry with developer Bensons Property Group, which has $1.5 billion worth of projects, entering voluntary administration, just a fortnight after Chinese-backed Melbourne-based developer APH Holding went into administration.
