Hope for families after abrupt collapse of construction firm
Failed builder Porter Davis will be partly sold to a Victorian construction firm to complete hundreds of homes.
Nostra Property Group will take over the collapsed builder’s multiple dwelling business in Victoria which is mostly responsible for townhouses.
Porter Davis, Australia’s 12th largest home builder suddenly stopped construction on 1,700 homes in Victoria and Queensland on March 31, 2023, after it was crippled by a funding hole estimated at $20 million.
Liquidator Grant Thornton announced Nostra has plans to complete up to 375 homes including 126 townhouses which have already been sold to buyers using the same Porter Davis designs.
The firm is also able to start construction for up to 169 townhouses that have already been sold.
It is offering ongoing employment to 16 Porter Davis workers as well.
"All parties worked tirelessly to achieve a positive outcome in an extremely short period of time which will see a number of jobs preserved, disruption minimised for several existing and future projects, and critically up to 375 homes built for families who have had to suffer enormous stress and anxiety following the collapse of the PDH Group," Said Jahani from liquidator Grant Thornton said.
The managing director for Nostra Anthony Caruana said the company is already in affiliation with various developers that were building Porter Davis homes, making the buy-in a “natural fit”.
"Together, we will work towards not only completing the existing partially built homes in this portfolio but also those projects which are yet to commence," Caruana said.
"This will ensure that we can provide much-needed certainty to the families who have purchased a PDH-designed townhouse and they can once again look forward to having a new place to call home.”
Founded by Caruana in Victoria in 2006, Nostra Property Group specialises in townhouse developments.
More than 1,000 homes remain unaccounted for as the firm is only taking over the Victorian arm of the Porter Davis builds.
It comes as upset families affected by the collapse took to the steps of Victorian parliament, demanding the government pay back the tens of thousands of dollars lost in deposits.
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