Administrators have been appointed to the building arm of beleaguered Sydney developer Jean Nassif’s Toplace Group in a collapse that could hit hundreds of apartment buyers and contractors.
Antony Resnick and Suelen McCallum of DVT Group were appointed voluntary administrators of Toplace Pty Ltd on July 7 by lawyers acting for Mr Nassif, who remains overseas and is facing an arrest warrant over fraud allegations.
An arrest warrant has been issued for Jean Nassif.
The appointment follows Toplace losing its building licence and NSW Fair Trading ordering the company to fix serious defects in the Vicinity apartment complex in Canterbury, in Sydney’s south-west, which regulators warn is at risk of collapse.
In June, NSW Police’s Organised Crime Squad issued an arrest warrant for 55-year-old Mr Nassif over allegations of fraud involving a Sydney apartment project developed by Toplace. Mr Nassif’s daughter Ashlyn has already been charged with falsifying documents relating to the pre-sale of apartments at the development in Castle Hill, in Sydney’s north-west.
The appointment of administrators comes as Mr Nassif offloads a prime portfolio of development sites that could reap as much as $250 million, and follows insolvency firm KordaMentha being appointed receivers over a number of Toplace assets on behalf of secured creditors.
Mr Resnick told The Australian Financial Review his team was “still filtering through a ton of information” and it was too early to speculate how much money was owed to creditors or the number of buyers and contractors impacted by the collapse of Toplace.
“There are a number [of projects] at varying stages, and lots of land holdings,” he said.
“Whether these are completed by administrators or sold off has yet to be decided.”
Alongside a number of secured creditors, there are also expected to be many unsecured creditors including about 40 employees of the company (classed as priority unsecured creditors) whose roles are being reviewed.
“The amount owed to creditors could be significant or substantial. We just don’t know yet,” Mr Resnick said.
A first meeting of creditors is expected to be held next week.
According to its website, since being founded by Mr Nassif in 1992, Toplace has “delivered approximately 30,000 residential homes, shopping centres and commercial suites all located in Sydney”.
“The Toplace Group has a number of projects, a multibillion-dollar development pipeline and a team of thousands of property and construction trades, suppliers and consultants,” it said.
In 2019, Mr Nassif famously Instagrammed the gift of a $480,000 Lamborghini to his wife captioned with the phrase: “You like?”
The yellow Lamborghini and its owner, Nisserine Nassif, in 2019. Instagram
In 2021, he sold a Sydney industrial development site to Goodman Group for $140 million, realising a $65 million profit.
This year, he sold a 7000 square metre apartment site in Zetland for $72 million to build-to-rent specialist Greystar and another site in Mascot to Goodman Group, which had come to market with expectations of $100 million.
Mr Resnick stressed that DVT Group had at this stage only been appointed administrator over the building arm of Toplace, not the other companies in the group.
He said he had not spoken with Mr Nassif, who has been overseas since December.
“The company director’s solicitors [ERA Law] made the recommendation that we be appointed. I have not met Jean Nassif personally. Everything has been done through the solicitors.”
In a statement, Toplace management said that after seeking legal and financial advice, the appointment of voluntary administrators was “the best outcome for our stakeholders”.
“Senior management is working closely with the VAs to achieve the best possible outcome for its stakeholders, especially the creditors and our consumers. We anticipate that through this process in time that all creditors’ debts will be met in full.”
Toplace management, which includes Ashlyn Nassif (according to the statement) blamed the collapse on “operational difficulties like many companies in the construction industry”.
“Contrary to media commentary no bank has ever lost any money financing Toplace group projects. Toplace Group has an extensive property portfolio which will be realised throughout this process to satisfy the obligations to creditors.
“Toplace is confident that with control being under the expertise of the VAs it will be in the best shape to navigate through these challenging times,” the statement concluded.
In 2020, Mr Nassif was revealed as Mr X, the developer who delivered apartments for buyers caught up in the collapse of William O’Dwyer’s Ralan Group.
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