Retirement Alliance reluctantly hands back management rights of prestige Sydney village to troubled Becton after Suncorp moves in

Residents of Woniora, a partially completed prestige village in Sydney’s blue ribbon suburb of Wahroonga, have been shaken by the unfolding problems of Melbourne developer Becton. With two mini towers built and sold, the residents have been patiently waiting for the remaining two towers to be commenced as they have been planned to provide the five star community facilities they had been promised. However the land for the two towers have been foreclosed by Suncorp who are now trying to sell it to recover their debt, rumoured to be $7M. A Becton company owns the village and the Omani Sovereign Fund backed Retirement Alliance has been managing the village since it became independent of Becton early this year. Becton CEO Matthew Chun now has to deal directly with residents. Discussions include finding a new owner that will complete the project and operate it as a village, or somehow transfer ownership to the residents, or convert it to a traditional apartment development. Given the sophistication of the residents, who have engaged solicitor Peter Hill to represent them, it could be a bad outcome for the sector.