Restart nears at Raine Square
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SARACEN Properties is aiming to sign up a new builder this month for its stalled commercial office tower Raine Square, which has been shut down for the past few months.
Saracen Properties managing director Luke Saraceni said Saracen was gearing up to restart work, and a builder would be appointed by the end of the month.
Mr Saraceni said the scheduled completion date for the tower was March-April next year.
“We’re still negotiating with the preferred builder at the moment to get the final price and negotiating the final bids for the contract,” Mr Saraceni told WA Business News.
“We’re also doing some mobilisation work out on site, so we’re gearing up to start.
“Hopefully by the end of this month we’ll get the builder signed up and everything else, it’s just the paperwork we have to go through with the banks and restructuring some of the loan facilities.”
Work at Raine Square stopped in February when Salta Constructions walked off the site due to concerns surrounding non-payment for variations to the original contract and the effect this could have had on subcontractors.
Salta lodged a writ seeking damages for loss of profit against Westgem Investments, a company under the Saracen Properties umbrella, in the Western Australian Supreme Court in April.
Saracen Properties then lodged its own court action to secure $10.6 million in bank guarantees from Salta.
Mr Saraceni said the court action would not cause any further delays to the tower’s construction.
“That’s got nothing to do with when we can commence construction or not, it’s simply got to do with whether we can access the bank guarantees,” he said.
The lack of action at Raine Square is in stark contrast to neighbouring commercial and retail development one40william.
Both buildings commenced construction midway through 2007, and rose into the Perth skyline at a similar rate. But the dispute with Salta has delayed completion of Raine Square until March next year, while one40william is on track for practical completion by the end of the quarter.