Sydney property developer James Vertzayias bankrupt owing $60 million

Jonathan ChancellorOctober 23, 2012

Sydney property developer James Vertzayias has declared himself bankrupt, owing $60 million.

The letter sent to creditors discloses the bank ING is owed $26 million, while Westpac offshoot St George is owed $7.6 million.

He headed the Globe Group of Companies, which was established in 1996 and undertook everything from luxury beachside apartments to warehouse refurbishments along with mixed-use development projects.

James Vertzayias lists on the company website his completed projects over two decades as totalling $505 million, including the Kilns at Brookvale and Elandra at Bundeena.

The company website noted several years ago the Globe Group started a restructuring and recapitalisation, introducing new shareholders and directors to "weather the industry storm brought about by the global financial crisis". 

The business had been in mild difficulties in 2009 with a lender putting one of the 11 companies in the group into receivership.

However Globe's website notes each Globe Project Group business unit is set up as a stand-alone entity and so the impact was limited to the interests of that one company only.

None of the 10 group companies listed on the ASIC website are under administration, given their restructured shareholdings.

"As of 2011, the business is healthy and well positioned to continue delivering high quality developments now and well into the future," the website says.

The letter sent by Insolvency Trustee Services Australia on October 15 after Vertzayias declared himself bankrupt on October 12 gives his address as Mittabah, a 68-hectare Southern Highlands property that was sold last year to a syndicate put together by former Liberal leader John Hewson for $9 million.

Hewson assisted the recapitalisation that saw new investors introduced, and secure the farm at Exeter, but there has since been a falling out between Hewson and Vertzayias based on the quotes from the SMH's CBD business gossip column.

Hewson is not listed among Vertzayias' creditors.

 

Jonathan Chancellor

Jonathan Chancellor is one of Australia's most respected property journalists, having been at the top of the game since the early 1980s. Jonathan co-founded the property industry website Property Observer and has written for national and international publications.

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