A company associated with Builton appears to be manoeuvring to complete two of the biggest jobs of the failed development and construction company – the Quattro on Burswood and Vue Maylands apartment projects.
A company associated with Builton appears to be manoeuvring to complete two of the biggest jobs of the failed development and construction company – the Quattro on Burswood and Vue Maylands apartment projects.
Emails obtained by Business News show an entity called Buildplex Pty Ltd has been contacting tradespeople to get quotes to finish both of the projects, which were nearing completion when the builder placed itself into voluntary administration in January, owing creditors around $30 million.
Buildplex Pty Ltd senior project manager Troy Gamblen is purported to have sent the emails. According to his Linkedin profile, Mr Gamblen began working at Builton in May 2016.
Buildplex Pty Ltd was known as BPS Holdings No 22 Pty Ltd, until a name change on January 24.
In addition, Australian Securities and Investments Commission documents show four Builton employees, including managing director Troy Felt and finance director Laurie Fitzgerald, were removed as company officers seven days before the name change.
The ASIC register for Buildplex Pty Ltd shows Darren Alexander, who started at Builton as its director of construction in January last year, became a Buildplex Pty Ltd director on January 17.
He became the sole shareholder of Buildplex Pty Ltd the same week as administrators were appointed to Builton, replacing an entity linked to the previous directors, Acquasparta Pty Ltd.
ASIC records show nine entities share the BPS Holdings naming convention, with the Quattro and Vue projects owned by BPS Holdings No 17 and BPS Holdings No 20, respectively.
Buildplex Pty Ltd does not appear on the state’s list of registered builders. However, another company, Buildplex Construction Pty Ltd, does.
Apart from the name, there does not appear to be any connection between Builtplex Construction Pty Ltd, which lists Aleksander Bukilic as its sole director, and Buildplex Pty Ltd.
Mr Bukilic told Business News that Buildplex Construction Pty Ltd had no relationship, working or otherwise, with Builton, and his company was not interested in bidding for any of its works.
Building Commission director of compliance Sandy Randall said the commission had spoken directly to the relevant parties about the information it had received that it was quoting for work while not being registered.
"The advice of the parties indicates that no offences have been committed," Ms Randall said.
At the same time, administrators at Cor Cordis have circulated a term sheet for offers to purchase the assets of BuiltonCorp Pty Ltd.
It is understood those assets comprise around 90 homes under construction, intellectual properties associated with the company including designs and plans, client contracts and the business names Builton Commercial, Platinum Homes, Aspireon Homes, Builton Living, Metrostart Homes and Multi Living by Design.
That asset list does not include the Quattro and Vue projects, or Builton’s headquarters at 90 Burswood Road.
Development assessment panel agenda documents show the Quattro project, comprising 40 apartments, had a base construction cost of $11.3 million, not including fitout and finishes.
Vue had a construction cost of $8.7 million, according to the DAP.
A listing for the office building, known as Builton House, on realcommercial.com.au indicates the property is under offer, after having been marketed for sale for $3.5 million.
Builton spent $7 million developing the office, which it moved into at the start of 2016.
At the time it said it built the office to accommodate its 90 staff. Administrators at Cor Cordis said the builder had around 38 staff when it collapsed, while its annual turnover was around $80 million.
Earlier this month, Cor Cordis’s Dino Travaglini told unsecured creditors it was unlikely any of them would receive what they were owed by Builton.
About 350 trades and suppliers have been caught up in the collapse, owed about $16 million, while secured creditors may be owed a similar amount.
Around 110 homebuyers have been affected, and while much of Builton’s work was at the lower to mid-range, its Platinum Homes division operated at the higher end of the market.
An industry source who spoke to Business News on condition of anonymity said one of Platinum Homes’ biggest jobs was a $2.2 million build in Dalkeith, where a client paid a $150,000 deposit upon signing a contract in late October, followed by around $340,000 in progress payments.
The source said the last payment was made in December, while he estimated the works completed on site to be worth between $50,000 and $80,000.
