Once again the Cyprus Community of NSW finds itself in a waiting game, this time waiting for the Supreme Court of NSW to make a decision for the possible sale of its flagship asset in Stanmore.

Once again the Cyprus Community of NSW finds itself in a waiting game, this time waiting for the Supreme Court of NSW to make a decision for the possible sale of its flagship asset in Stanmore.

A conditional $55 million sale of the premises has been done by the voluntary administrators of the Community, Morgan Kelly and David Kennedy from Ernst and Young Australia, who were appointed last September.

However, it is said that Kelly wants to be 100 per cent sure that it is in their discretion and authority as administrators to proceed with the sale without asking the members.

Some opposing views say that Kelly was the one who had said before that he will consult members prior to making a final decision, which is the main dispute.

The case was in court last Friday (15 August) wherein the court stated the decision on the case would be made in the near future.

In the meantime, the current building at Stanmore has security issues and will have to close by 30 August per a fire safety order by the Inner West Council, meaning that the offices and other operations of the Cyprus Community of NSW have to relocate.

The court case

The sale has been divisive with the issue having now been raised in court.

Kyriakos Panayi, Secretary of the Cyprus Community of NSW, shed light on the series of events leading to the case, starting with the appointment of the administrators last September.

He told Neos Kosmos that after Kelly and Kennedy were brought in, a property panel made up of several members of the Community was created to advise them on the sale.

“The offers were put to those members of the property panel. A set of criteria was put together and it was agreed by the panel that it should be an offer of no risk,” Panayi said, elaborating that it meant excluding joint venture offers and offers where the developer uses the Club as security.

The Community’s secretary stated that it was the administrators’ intention to go to the members, present the offers and allow them to vote on which they preferred.

“The concern was that as a buyer you are going to turn up (either yourself or by sending someone) to listen on what is happening in the meeting. The minute you see chaos and member disunity, you are going to reduce your offer or you are going to walk away and that was the general consensus on what would happen,” he said.

“Morgan used his power as an administrator to execute the sale. What he is doing now is simply going to the court and getting it rubber stamped. That is all he is doing.”

Kelly’s authority to approve the sale without consulting and receiving the approval of the members is the main issue.

Spyros Constantinou, speaking on behalf of the concerned members against the sale, told Neos Kosmos they “oppose the sale without consultation of the members.”

“He went to court asking the court to approve his decision to sign a contract for sale without consulting the members and we are currently in court opposing that,” Constantinou said.

Kelly announced the sale at a meeting held at the Club on 29 July, stating at the time he had the authority as administrator to approve it.

“When we asked Kelly about the process, he briefly said that he went through a number of companies that expressed interest in the past, around five or six, and of them he chose one. He thought that was the best possible deal so he signed a contract with them,” Constantinou said.

“The contract was subject to the court approving the sale without going through members.”

The court heard the case last Friday and stated they would come back with a decision in the near future.

“The Judge did not actually put a date on it. We know from experience that it usually takes between seven to ten days for something like this to be decided. That is how long we expect it will take,” Constantinou said.

Panayi also suggested the verdict will be given around that timeframe, saying he believes the court’s decision should come “by the end of the week”.

Constantinou further noted their concern over the $55 million sale which he believes is significantly lower to the valuation of the Stanmore property.

Panayi stated the offer is approximately equal to its value, saying a valuation from Cushman and Wakefield from roughly one and a half to two years ago put the Club at $56.5 million.

It is worth noting the Community has a debt at around $20 million and so any sale would work to also pay off that amount.

Constantinou claims they put forward an alternative proposal to the administrators.

“There is a proposal that we put to Kelly wherein the community can be developed where it is. It can be given a new club with all the parking and be given over one million per year in income and the property is given a 99-year lease,” he said.

“This is the current new proposal that we have suggested, with all the debts paid off and the place becomes a retirement village under a 99-year lease. He disregarded it.”

Panayi stated that there were offers that were not considered as they were not submitted through the proper channels.

Neos Kosmos approached Morgan Kelly for comment, who expressed that he would submit a statement but it had not been sent yet at the time of publication. It will be included once it has been sent.

Relocating operations

An additional issue surrounding the Stanmore club is the fact it has to close by 30 August due to a fire safety order by the Inner West Council.

As a result, the Community will relocate its operations to The Lakemba Club.

Its Greek School will also be located at The Lakemba Club, which will also hold the students of its Dancing School, and other classes will be held at the NSW School of Languages in Petersham.

Members will also soon have access to the Canterbury Leagues Club’s facilities and services.

Regarding the future of the Community beyond the sale of its Club, Panayi said “we can’t do anything until the settlement happens”.

“At the moment we are blessed that Canterbury have taken us on. They have three clubs. They are pretty much housing us in their Lakemba location and our major events will be held at the Leagues Club.”

The operations will continue at the current Stanmore location up until 30 August.