Construction restarts on $180m Melbourne tower after builder collapse
Golden Age Group has restarted construction on its $180 million office tower in central Melbourne after work on the Little Collins Street project halted when builder Roberts Co Vic went into administration in March.
The strata office project was hit by two builder failures – by that of Probuild three years ago and then by Roberts Co, which took over the Melbourne CBD project as part of the NSW builder’s fateful expansion south of the Murray. It will complete in August, rather than this month, Golden Age said.
Work partially resumed last week and the developer is now finalising agreements with more than 30 subcontractors, consultants and suppliers to resume full construction on the tower, Golden Age said.
The developer, which has engaged a construction manager to complete the balance of outstanding work, has novated subcontractors previously hired by Roberts Co Vic to work for it directly and is engaging suppliers directly.
“Golden Age remains deeply committed to delivering 130 Little Collins Street to the highest standard,” said Damien Hehir, Golden Age’s development director.
“Our immediate focus has been to secure continuity of works and minimise disruption for our valued purchasers and stakeholders.”
Golden Age declined to say how much more the project would take to complete after Roberts Co Vic’s failure. It said, however, that the cost to complete was “many multiples” of the original contract it had agreed with Roberts Co Vic.
It said the estimated end value of the Cox Architecture-designed tower was $180 million.
Restarting work removes uncertainty for one of the four Roberts Co Vic projects that fell into limbo when the company’s owner, billionaire Andrew Roberts, put it into administration.
But the 28-level office project was the most advanced and an easier proposition to resolve than the much larger, and less advanced, projects such as developer ESR’s giant warehouse for Amazon in northern Melbourne’s Craigieburn, or Investa’s $450 million build-to-rent project in inner-western Footscray, or the mRNA manufacturing facility at La Trobe University for German company BioNTech.
One issue hanging over all projects is the value of any contribution Roberts, as owner of Roberts Co Australia, parent of the Victorian entity, would make to help the projects restart.
Golden Age declined to give any details about any support Roberts had provided.
Work on the other three projects has not yet recommenced, but a source close to Investa last month told The Australian Financial Review it hoped to be able to restart the 700-unit project on McNab Street in June.
The Golden Age office tower was a developments Roberts Co took over in 2022 after another builder, Probuild, collapsed after its South African parent called time on the loss-making company.
At the time, Roberts Co told the Financial Review the Golden Age project had to be repriced because the formwork subcontractor on the project was closing its business and the new builder had to find an alternative.
Other projects Golden Age, founded by businessman Jeff Xu, has under way include Floret, a residential community in eastern Melbourne’s Glen Waverley. In Box Hill, the city’s fast-growing second CBD, the company is working on residential project Wembley Hill, as well as a high-rise mixed-use project SKY SQR and an office tower at 69 Carrington Street.
