Almost two months after builders walked off the job, Heran Building Group has taken the construction of its $100-million residential highrise at Main Beach on the Gold Coast in-house.
Work on the almost-complete 39-storey tower ground to a halt amid an ongoing pay dispute between the developer and the head contractor Tomkins in September 2024.
In a statement at the time, Tomkins told The Urban Developer that it terminated its contract with Heran Group on the Midwater development in September, and that “despite many attempts and goodwill from Tomkins to resolve the issues, the Heran Group has failed to meet their obligations under the contract”.
The project is being led by York Property Holdings, which is part of the Heran Building Group. It has now appointed a new team to oversee the completion of its 119-apartment tower project.
York also has a new contractor to complete the structure and external facade.
“The construction contract with the original builder remains on foot but we have exercised our right to take the work out of the builder’s hands and into our own so that the new contractor can work hand-in-glove with York to drive the project forward to completion,” York said in a statement.
Midwater project management team leader Tim Easterbrook said the project timeframes had blown out due to the delays, but it was good to see activity on site.
“Our team is busy taking steps to expedite the completion of the building’s structure and internal fit-out with more works planned in the coming weeks,” Easterbrook said.
“We have been actively engaging with existing and new suppliers and subcontractors to determine the cost of completing the project and what role they can play. Early progress has been reassuring with our first subcontractor returning to site late last month.
“The response from apartment holders about our progress has also been very positive and we have committed to keeping them informed.”
The project has been under construction for almost three years.
York said it would continue to work through the outstanding areas of the construction dispute in the interest of all stakeholders.
“Every single claim to payment made by the original builder was assessed by a third-party superintendent and every one of those assessed claims was paid in full and on time in accordance with the superintendent’s assessment,” York said in a statement.
“We have made every effort to make the relationship work, including offering favourable advance payment terms beyond our contractual obligations. Disappointingly, those offers in good faith were rejected.”
The dispute has been ongoing since late August when Tomkins first suspended construction work on Midwater.
Director Mike Tomkins said he was “acting now to safeguard the sustainability of Tomkins’ extensive portfolio of projects, as well as their reputation, their people, clients and subcontractors”.
“No builder can afford not be paid, and I am not prepared to continue to carry the costs of this developer,” he said.
