Debts of almost $500,000 forced the receivership of the company behind Auckland's skinniest apartment tower.
Columbard, the Wyndham St corporate crash pad whose cafe shut this month, has been labouring under a debt burden to Inland Revenue and its funder, Capital & Merchant Finance.
A receiver's report on Columbard Wyndham Street shows it owed $374,400 to Capital & Merchant Finance, $40,450 to Inland Revenue and $40,000 to unsecured creditors. ANZ National Bank also has a security interest registered over the company but is owed nothing.
The company has $28,654 cash banked but no value has been ascribed to its chattels or office equipment.
Yet tower developer Peter Chevin said it had been such a success that he wanted to take the concept overseas.
The company in receivership is wholly owned by Chevin, who vowed early this month to develop other buildings like it, using much the same formula. He said he might even float a company on NZX so he could expand his concept.
The only trouble with Columbard, Chevin said, was that at 144 units it was too small and carried too much debt. A block needed at least 200 units.
But receivers Kevin Pitfield and Gareth Hoole of Staples Rodway said the company's debt to Capital & Merchant arose from advances made by the funder to Columbard Wyndham Street and an associated entity for buying and equipping the high-rise tower.
Chevin said Columbard had been such a success that he wanted to take his concept to Australia and was still negotiating for the Devonport wharf to develop more than 200 units.
Fat debt burden hits skinny Columbard
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