A move into property development has resulted in Adultshop.com founders Malcolm Day and Rodney Smith being hit with a $1.3 million Supreme Court writ from construction giant John Holland, the company building their five-storey apartment complex at 2 Bellevue Terrace, Perth.
The writ also names Miami Gold Pty Ltd and Bellevue Apartments Pty Ltd, companies both linked to Messrs Day and Smith.
Mr Day said he was unaware of the writ, which seeks $1.27 million, but confirmed he was in a dispute with John Holland over monies still to be paid and completion times for the project, which overlooks the Swan River and backs onto Kings Park.
“The building was supposed to be completed last year. It’s still not completed,” Mr Day told WA Business News.
“We’re in dispute over the practical completion date.”
The writ claims that John Holland told contract superintendent David Bertram, of Project Management Group, that the works had reached practical completion on August 12 2004.
Mr Day said the Bellevue Terrace project had nothing to do with Adultshop.com, the company he is most commonly associated with.
He said Miami Gold was a private development company he headed with Mr Smith, and Bellevue Apartments was a company associated with that.
The Bellevue Apartments project was given the green light by the City of Perth in 2000 and covers a 1,065 square metre block for which Mr Day and Mr Smith reportedly paid $8 million.
According to the writ, works started on the project in August 2002. It claims the principals requested 200 or so alterations to the works.
At the time of gaining council approval, the project was valued at $23 million.
Mr Day said with capital appreciation the five single-storey apartment project was probably worth $28 million now.
He is understood to have paid $6.25 million for the top-storey penthouse.
The City of Perth approval of their plan came just days before the dot.com crash of 2000.
Mr Day, then a civil construction engineer, and Mr Smith came together in the mid 1990s when they formed a partnership to take adult products shop Barbarella’s online.
The company backdoor listed through gold and diamond explorer Western Minerals in 1999.
