Administrators sell Sarah Tower site
ADMINISTRATORS of one of the companies owned by controversial property developer Bashar Issa have exchanged contracts with a buyer for the Sarah Tower site on Dale Street in Manchester city centre.
The deal has been revealed in a progress report prepared by Brian Green and David Costley-Wood, who were appointed as joint administrators in July 2008 of Issa Developments – the company responsible for developing a 68m-high, 22-storey ofice and residential tower at the site.
Work had already started on the tower by another of Issa’s companies, BS Construction, when the plug was pulled on the company and a large crater has remained on the site since.
KPMG’s report states that it has been marketing the site, which is the company’s only substantial asset, in its current state for some time and had received a number of offers.
“The joint administrators have exchanged contracts to sell the property, subject to a successful planning application to amend the original planning permission granted by Manchester City Council,” it said.
“We hope to be able to report positively upon the completion of the property sale within our next report to creditors.”
No price for the sale has been mentioned, but the report states that the company’s bank, Bank of Ireland, is unlikely to recoup all of the £17m it was owed by Issa Developments. As a result, second charge holders Mr & Mrs Ali and all of the firm’s unsecured creditors are unlikely to receive any money owed to them.
Bashar Issa is understood to have loaned around £60m from banks to fund a series of projects around Manchester City Centre including the nearby Sarah Point scheme, Issa Quay and the Canopus Greengate project in Salford. None of the projects were completed to a habitable standard before administrators were appointed to Issa’s various companies and he was declared personally bankrupt owing around £69m last year.
