"I'd like to acknowledge the traditional owners of this land, the Obeids.
Kate McClymont (@Kate_McClymont) | Twitter
Leichhardt council has won a landmark victory against a property developer who illegally demolished a heritage-listed shopfront in Annandale. The NSW Land and Environment Court found the owner and director of development company Geitonia, Bill Gertos, personally liable for the illegal demolition of the Edwardian facade located next to the iconic Annandale Hotel. The court found Mr Gertos ordered the demolition of the Edwardian facade in late 2011 after the council approved a redevelopment of the building on the proviso the shopfront facade would be preserved.
The maximum penalty for the offence is $1.1 million.
The ruling was one of the rare cases where an individual owner or director of a company was successfully prosecuted for breaching heritage law, and could set a precedent for other Sydney councils fighting to save heritage buildings.
Landmark victory as developer found liable for illegal demolition
Leichhardt Council v Geitonia Pty Ltd (No 6) [2015] NSWLEC 51 (2 April 2015)
Chinese developer Greenland could face stiff competition when it opens a boutique hotel on its Water Board site in Sydney. Local developer Ninety Four Feet has lodged plans for a 136-room, four to five-star hotel directly opposite. The Pitt Street purchase marks the group’s first foray into the Sydney market. They paid more than $10 million to private property investor Bill Gertos in December 2013 for the six-storey commercial building. Pitt Street hotel sites in demand
Mr Gertos and Mr Gav are great philanthropists
I direct the attention of members to the Greens site "Democracy4Sale". When they go to that site not only will they access the massive flow of donations to all parties in this State; they will also be able to avail themselves of the opportunity to look in detail at the developers' map. How could any of us forget the revealing photograph, on the front page of the SMH Sydney Morning Herald on 1 November, of an obsequious Opposition leader, Peter Debnam, and a fawning shadow planning Minister, Chris Hartcher, welcoming developers aboard for a $750-a-head cosy jaunt around the harbour on a luxury cruiser, the use of which was kindly donated by Mr Greg Gav, who is—members guessed it—a property developer of some note? Developers
Gav's vessel, The Other Woman
The former ALP mayor of Rockdale Bill Saravinovski took visitors cruising on Sydney Harbour aboard the boat of a developer, but did not declare their relationship when he voted some years later to approve a contentious apartment project in Brighton Le Sands.
Residents learnt in 2011 that the development, by Greg Gav's Kilota Pty Ltd, at 344 Bay Street, had won councillors' backing to double in size from five to 10 storeys. The approval came despite council planners initially recommending it be refused and the State's Design Review Panel saying there was no apparent public benefit to justify exceeding the floor space ratio.
Mayor used developer's boat
Perdikaris
Andriopoulos