A CONDITION on the sale of Wodonga's CBD West land to a Sydney company could see one of the two sites having to be remarketed in the future.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
That's the view of Melbourne developer Brad Matthews, whose firm ResCom was the losing bidder for the land that was once home to Wodonga's police station, court and swimming pool.
Mr Matthews aired his views in an email to Wodonga Council's governance officer Kevin Scully, that was shared to all councillors, before last Monday's meeting that saw Sydney's Criterion Property Group unanimously backed to buy the land for $3.55 million.
In the email, Mr Matthews wrote that it was misleading to state in the council's agenda that a heads of agreement with Criterion "provides a high level of certainty for the sale proceeding".
CBD West consists of two blocks, one fronting Elgin Boulevard and the other Stanley Street.
"The Heads of Agreement allows for Criterion to withdraw from the purchase of either (or both) the Elgin or Stanley lots should Criterion not sell or lease at least 50% of the net leasable/saleable area at any time within 15 months and 21 months after the sale (contract signing) respectively," Mr Matthews wrote.
"This condition could see only one of the sites being purchased/settlement completed and the remaining site having to be remarketed again at a later date."
Wodonga Council chief executive Mark Dixon has been authorised by council to complete the sale to Criterion, which is expected to be finalised in the new year.
Mr Matthews said he was approached by the council in mid-2018 under previous chief executive Patience Harrington to see if he would be interested in buying CBD West which the city had long been wanting to sell.
He said ResCom was interested but later looked to concentrate on other works before being revisited by the council in the middle of this year.
Mr Matthews said he was unaware of Criterion's interest until August, when the council in a confidential meeting made the Sydney firm its preferred purchaser.