Shellharbour council waives developers' debt weeks after $7m Gold Coast sale

Gold Coast press and property outlets reported that Daascon had sold the 1960s Laurieton House apartment block to Gold Coast Developer Ignite for $7 million earlier in May.

Daascon was the developer behind the Elevation 77 apartment building in Shellharbour City Centre, however the business went bust shortly after settlement, owing $1.6 million to creditors.

One of those creditors was Shellharbour council, which was owed tens of thousands of dollars for the use of council-owned carparking spaces next to the project.

Creditors agreed to a deed of company arrangement (DOCA), which would allow Daascon to pay about 10 cents for every dollar it owed creditors in March.

This meant Daascon paid Shellharbour council about $6000 of the total $60,000 debt.

The outstanding $53,707.94 remained on council's books, however after pursuing the amount through Revenue NSW, a report to council determined that the debt was "irrecoverable".

On Tuesday, May 28, councillors voted to waive that debt, with both Mayor Chris Homer and councillor Rob Petreski expressing discomfort with the result.

"I'm not comfortable with letting people off the hook like that," Cr Petreski said.

"I'm not comfortable with it either," Mayor Homer said.

The debt arose from Daascon occupying carparking spaces on Moolawang Place in Shellharbour City Centre.

These cost $113 per space per week, and between March 2021 and August 2022 Daascon paid council $90,436.

However, the construction project went on longer than expected and Daascon had not paid the additional amount, and in April 2023 sent the outstanding invoices to Revenue NSW.

In July the company filed for voluntary insolvency, blaming the collapse on the rise in the cost of materials.

But after the DOCA was executed, Mr Saad could get back to business, and sold his Gold Coast property holdings.

Originally, plans had been filed with the Gold Coast council to build a 14 storey tower at the Palm Beach site, which attracted 1512 objections and in January nearby residents took Mr Saad and the council to court, alleging the project was too big and bulky and inconsistent with the low-rise area.

The new owner of the block has proposed to scale down the building to nine storeys.

Despite the $7 million cash boost, Mr Saad may have little leftover to spend, having originally purchased the Gold Coast block for $14.025 million in 2022.