FREMANTLE city council has quietly dropped plans to buy into Match’s redevelopment of the Fort Knox building.

Earlier this year the council had looked into guaranteeing its purchase of an apartment or two in the East End warehouse conversion if the developer couldn’t sell them to someone else. The deal, known as a “put option”, would have helped Match convince financial backers there were enough sales to warrant ongoing funding.

At the time, mayor Brad Pettitt told local architect Andrew Adcock in an email that, “presales have not been as quick as the developer would have liked so work has not yet been able to start”.

Since then, distressed asset expert Sirona Capital (which bought the Myer building off Luke Saraceni in a firesale after he’d run into strife with banks) has bought into the project and it’s gained momentum, with a new launch last week.

Private

Council’s new economic development manager Tom Griffiths confirmed the council is no longer considering buying any apartments in Heirloom: “We have no involvement in this project. It is a private development led by Match and Sirona.”

Dr Pettitt says he’s pleased the Fort Knox project, being marketed as “Heirloom”, is generating interest.

“Some time ago there was some informal discussions [about buying in], but this was as far as it got and the idea for entering into a commercial agreement with Match was never discussed formally by council.”

The idea had been run past the council’s lawyers, but CEO Graeme Mackenzie refused to divulge details to the Herald, such as where and how the plan was hatched and whether the council stood to earn a fee from the developer—a standard clause in put options.

by STEVE GRANT