Administrator in no rush to sell Alexandra Tower
THE administrator appointed to realise the assets of failed property company Millennium Estates is in no hurry to offload the 27-storey Alexandra Tower development at Princes Dock in Liverpool.
The development was one of several which was undertaken by Millennium Estates, which had been owned by Allsports founder David Evans prior to its collapse in January 2009.
Building work on Alexandra Tower was started in 2005 but the project only completed in 2008 as the property market crashed. Only 61 of the 201 properties were ever sold – just six of these have been sold in the past two and a half years – but a further 103 are currently let and 37 remain on the market.
The latest progress report prepared by joint administrator Simon Wilson of Zolfo Cooper states that the administrators “continue to operate a let and hold strategy at Alexandra Tower” in order to contribute towards administration costs and create a marketable product. It adds that the Tower is not currently on the market.
“However, I maintain contact with my agent, the secured creditor and several interested parties with a view to determining the optimum disposal strategy for Alexandra Tower”.
A buyer who had previously exchanged contracts on 119 of the apartments at Aelxandra Tower only to later rescind its agreement could end up being sued for damages once all of the properties are sold, the report said.
Similarly, following its disposal of the 89 apartments Millennium Estates owned at Erie Basin in Salford to Elan Homes for £9.8m at the end of last year, Wilson said that it had looked to enforce a sale agreement of the property’s freehold which was agreed with a buyer prior to Millennium Estates being placed into administration.
The report states that the purchaser has said it is unwilling to complete the deal, so the administrators served a Notice to Complete which expired in mid-February.
“Since the expiry, I have granted several informal extensions to the purchaser to allow additional time to address matters preventing completion of the contract and I am working with all parties involved to bring the matter to a satisfactory conclusion,” he said.
Millennium Estates was funded both by Royal Bank of Scotland and Barclays Bank. RBS is likely to face a shortfall of £762,000 following asset sales, but Barclays is likely to face a “significant shortfall” and it is unlikely that unsecured creditors will be paid anything.
