The Urban Developer
AdvertiseEventsWebinarsUrbanity
Industry Excellence
Urban Leader
Sign In
Membership
Latest
Menu
Location
Sector
Category
Content
Type
Newsletters
Urban Leader Awards Logos RGB White
NOMINATIONS CLOSE SEPTEMBER 12 RECOGNISING THE INDIVIDUALS BEHIND THE PROJECTS
NOMINATIONS CLOSING SEPTEMBER 12 URBAN LEADER AWARDS
LEARN MOREDETAILS
TheUrbanDeveloper
Follow
About
About Us
Membership
Awards
Events
Webinars
Listings
Resources
Terms & Conditions
Commenting Policy
Privacy Policy
Republishing Guidelines
Editorial Charter
Complaints Handling Policy
Contact
General Enquiries
Advertise
Contribution Enquiry
Project Submission
Membership Enquiry
Newsletter
Stay up to date and with the latest news, projects, deals and features.
Subscribe
ADVERTISEMENT
SHARE
print
Print
PlanningStaff WriterSun 05 Nov 17

$350m Tower Melbourne Besieged by Litigation Officially Cancelled

Tower-Melbourne

Melbourne’s troubled $350 million Tower Melbourne skyscraper at 150 Queen Street has officially been scrapped by its Singaporean developer with more than 550 buyers having their sale contracts cancelled.

Tower Melbourne was meant to consist of 581 units over 71-storeys but the developer Chip Eng Seng, through its local arm CEL Australia, has opted to cancel the project following a long running dispute with the owner of an adjoining property at 140 Queen Street.

Chip Eng Seng will refund buyers’ ten per cent deposits and interest accrued for the 556 sales contracts it had. The developer had sold most units in the project before gaining planning approval in 2012. Many of the buyers were overseas investors.

[Related reading: Planning War Disrupts Tower Melbourne Progress]The group is understood to be considering its options for the site and could decide to sell the property. The 220-metre tower had been designed by Elenberg Fraser.

The company said in a statement: “The protracted and complex nature of the legal proceedings have forced the cessation of any works on site since September 2013, and despite ongoing efforts to resolve these disputes, CEL Australia is still unable to proceed with any further demolition works on the existing building.

“Consequently, the building of Tower Melbourne has been significantly delayed and the project is unable to be delivered within the date of registration stipulated in the contracts of sale.”

The neighbouring property owned by Colonial Range, also controlled by a Singaporean family, had maintained that Tower Melbourne would interfere with its own development and specifically through vehicle use of a private easement through Penfold Place.

Colonial Range had alleged that Tower Melbourne was approved by the previous Napthine government on the basis of "misstatements” or “concealments of fact".

A series of legal proceedings had seen demolition come to a standstill in 2013 and the site to become known as one of Melbourne’s most litigious development projects.

CEL Australia’s current projects, Williamsons Estate Townhouses and Willow Apartments in Doncaster, are well under construction with settlements to occur in late 2017/early 2018.

Chip Eng Seng had previously doubled its money on a prominent vacant development site in inner-city Melbourne, on-selling the site with planning permit approval for 1,035 apartments.

ResidentialAustraliaMelbournePlanningLegalPlanningSector
AUTHOR
Staff Writer
"TheUrbanDeveloper.com is committed to delivering the latest news, reviews, opinions and insights into the best of urban development from Australia and around the world. "
More articles by this author
ADVERTISEMENT
TOP STORIES
Stockland bumps up its apartment pipeline in melbourne and sydney
Exclusive

Stockland Re-Enters Density in $5bn Apartment Play

Renee McKeown
4 Min
Woolloongabba Precinct Vulture St
Exclusive

Brisbane Developer in Cross River Rail Compensation Tussle

Clare Burnett
4 Min
The Mondrian Gold Coast hotel's food and beverage is driving profits
Exclusive

Touch, Taste, Theatre: What’s Driving Mondrian’s Success

Renee McKeown
6 Min
Fortis’ display suites are designed as brand environments first, with tactile details and curated design to build buyer confidence before project specifics.
Exclusive

Relevant or Redundant: Will Tech Kill Display Suites?

Vanessa Croll
7 Min
Exclusive

Missing Heart: Why The Gold Coast Needs a CBD

Phil Bartsch
7 Min
View All >
Stockland bumps up its apartment pipeline in melbourne and sydney
Exclusive

Stockland Re-Enters Density in $5bn Apartment Play

Renee McKeown
Aerial view of Caboolture and Bruce highway to Brisbane with Bribie Island Road crossing, Queensland, Australia
Policy

Queensland’s $2bn Push Opens New Housing Front

Vanessa Croll
South Melbourne social housing precinct
Affordable & Social Housing

South Melbourne Housing Precinct Revamp Takes Next Step

Leon Della Bosca
The Dorcas Street project replaces demolished walk-ups with 131 modern apartments, the first step in a multi-stage redev…
LATEST
Stockland bumps up its apartment pipeline in melbourne and sydney
Exclusive

Stockland Re-Enters Density in $5bn Apartment Play

Renee McKeown
4 Min
Aerial view of Caboolture and Bruce highway to Brisbane with Bribie Island Road crossing, Queensland, Australia
Policy

Queensland’s $2bn Push Opens New Housing Front

Vanessa Croll
2 Min
South Melbourne social housing precinct
Affordable & Social Housing

South Melbourne Housing Precinct Revamp Takes Next Step

Leon Della Bosca
2 Min
The Adelaide purpose built student accommodation market is about to increase by 1058 beds with the State Commission Assessment Panel supporting two towers in the making.
Student Housing

Highrise Approvals Add 1000-Plus PBSA Beds in Adelaide

Renee McKeown
3 Min
View All >
ADVERTISEMENT
Article originally posted at: https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/tower-melbourne-chip-eng-seng-queen-street