East Perth Officeworks

Pindan Capital

The building we knew as Officeworks appears to have been built in 2000. It was sold to Pindan Capital, "the property fund management business of construction," and Ao Qing Investment on 6 October 2014 for $10,925,000.

Pindan was formed in 1977 by developers George Allingame and David Pringle.

 

They quickly put together a proposal for two nine-storey 214-apartment buildings at a cost of $55 million (expected to earn more than $100 million), releasing the plans in the second week of January, only three months after purchasing the site. Plans included three levels of car parking, ground floor commercial space, a 20-metre swimming pool with a sundeck and cabanas, residents' lounge, barbecue facilities, gym, relaxation zone and a herb garden. Approval for the development application for the apartments known as Alto, was expected to be given in the first quarter of the year, sales opening on April 8 and construction starting mid-year.

​

Compared to present day 2023, something definitely appears to have changed if it now takes an extensive amount of time to make any sort of fast progress with development applications, red tape bureaucracy and community consultation submissions. Notwithstanding the financial backing Pindan may have had available to them at the time to be in a position to fast-track a building proposal, particularly when considering the majority of apartment projects need to achieve a minimal amount of sales before they can proceed with construction.

​

Development approval for the 10-storey development with 214 apartments was given on February 2, 2016, although Business News reported it to have been approved in March 2015, with the standard two year period given for construction to begin. It's hard to find any information on where and how this extra apartment storey came in, nor how it became scaled down to eight storeys in October 2017, with new options for three-room apartments, whereas before it was only limited to one and two rooms.

 

The year 2017 had appeared to be quite tough for apartment sales, with what was described as "patchy sales" felt industry-wide. Many developers were said to be delaying their marketing campaigns until economic conditions began to improve. For Pindan Capital, as a result of not yet starting to construct Alto, their developmental approval expired mid-year.

​

During 2018, Pindan Group claimed to have a "temporary cash flow issue," despite raising $72 million when Singapore-listed developer Oxley Holdings acquired a 40% share of the company 18 months earlier. In October 2019, Oxley Holdings purchased the remaining shares of Pindan Group, taking full control of the company but it wouldn't be enough to keep Pindan afloat. More than 20 small construction companies had collapsed in recent years and the slow payments Pindan was making to subcontractors wasn't helping.

 

Pindan Group went into external administration in 2021 with more than 1,400 creditors owed somewhere between $70-80 million. At the time, they were involved in 68 active projects with approximately 280 employees, 500 subcontractors and 400 trade suppliers. Potential investors withdrawing from proposed opportunities were being blamed early on in the investigation. Liquidators were appointed to Pindan Group's nine entities: Pindan Capital, Pindan Capital Investments, Pindan Constructions, Pindan Constructions (NSW), Pindan Projects WA, Pindan Homes, Pindan Developments, Pindan Realty and Moselle Holdings.