Grocon owes flagship Darling Harbour project $103m
The first statutory report into the collapse of developer and builder Grocon has revealed more than half a billion dollars is owed to subsidiary companies within the group, including more than $100 million owed to an entity tied to the flagship Ribbon hotel and apartment project at Sydney’s Darling Harbour.
Grocon itself is owed $11.5 million from an intercompany loan made to its boss, property scion Daniel Grollo.
Grocon sold the rights to the $700 million mixed-use Darling Harbour development to Chinese-backed Greaton in February, but has remained on board as the builder of the project,which is due for completion next year.
It is understood an announcement on the future of the 25-storey project will be made later this week by Greaton.
The $102.7 million owed to Grocon (Darling Harbour) is included in the December 4 report on company activities and property (ROCAP) of Grocon Pty Limited, one of 39 Grocon entities put into administration by Mr Grollo last month.
Another entity tied to a Melbourne office project called Northumberland, where Grocon’s building contract was terminated last week, is owed $8.6 million, a debt which correlates to amounts owed to subcontractors.
Neither the Darling Harbour or Northumberland Grocon entities are in administration.
Non-related party creditors of Grocon include the Australian Taxation Office, which is owed almost $16 million in GST and PAYE taxes and insurance group Assetinsure, owed $2.46 million.
At the same time, the ROCAP shows around $500 million is owed to Grocon Pty Limited through intercompany loans, including $243 million lent to Grocon Builders (Vic) and $11.5 million to Mr Grollo.
A first meeting of Grocon creditors will be held in Sydney on Wednesday followed by a second meeting on December 23, when the fate of the company will be decided.
An administrator’s report, due to be filed on December 16, is expected to paint a more detailed picture of the company’s financial woes.
“As the entities are in administration, we are not able to comment at the current time. The administrator will report to creditors on these matters,” a Grocon spokeswoman said.
