A glitzy recreational club in a residential estate has been put on the market after a failed attempt to transfer ownership from the developer to the residents.
Developer Aveo is seeking expressions of interest for the venue – which boasts a pool, barbecue area, tennis courts, gym and retail space – within the Ridges Estate at Peregian Springs.
Aveo’s 10-year agreement to own and operate the precinct – while estate homeowners paid a levy to use its facilities – came to an end earlier this year.
A vote among homeowners to take it over – with common ownership via a Principal Body Corporate – fell just short, and the club’s doors were closed to the anguish of most locals.
They needed a unanimous ‘yes’ vote from seven subsidiaries to assume control but six were ‘yes’ and one was a tie.
READ: Residents’ desperate plea after developer shuts club door
Aveo said it was moving on.
“The management of commercial recreational facilities is not aligned to Aveo’s core business, which is why we have decided to sell,” the group said in a statement.
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Aveo Head of Development Gary Kordic said the group would like to sell to buyers who had locals in mind.
“It is our intention to seek purchasers who have expertise in the commercial operation of recreational facilities for the benefit of the wider community,” he said.
“We are mindful that the recreational facility is currently closed, and we intend to move forward on a swift marketing campaign and our hope is for a successful outcome as soon as possible and to provide certainty over the recreational facility’s future”.
If ownership had been transferred to the PBC, homeowners would have paid about $790 a year (an increase of about $30) to maintain and operate the venue, while Aveo would have received rental income from the retail area (café and office space) for the next 30 years.
PBC chairman Roger Cook said the venue’s future was now uncertain.
“We don’t know (what will happen),” he said. “Will anybody offer anything?”
“Some think a knight is going to take over and run it like a charity case … That it’s going to be a user-pays system and it will cost $5 on a Sunday afternoon.
“I don’t think that’s going to happen.”
He believed owners would need to charge users a relative fortune, even with the rental yield from the commercial area.
“If you look at what it would cost to run the venue, pay a mortgage and employ staff – and make a profit – then you see the bigger financial picture,” he said.
“It’s a tragedy, especially as we’re coming into summer now (when the pool would be busy).
“Any community in Australia would probably give their back teeth to have a facility like this and, unfortunately due to the voting process, we’ve lost it.
“It’s devastating to think that in any democracy that the majority of people voted for it (ownership) but it still didn’t go through.”
Mr Cook said the area was zoned sport and recreation by Sunshine Coast Council, but it was originally zoned commercial by the Planning and Environment Court.
“A developer might try and seize on that and get the original plan reinstated,” he said.
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