Once an Icon – Now a Pile of Rubble

Senior Lawyer, Adrian Mueller reminisces…

“In 1980 my parents took me to the Gold Coast for a holiday. It was my first adventure in Queensland. I was 2 years old. We stayed at the (in)famous Iluka hotel.

The Iluka was built in the 1970’s. It was an iconic building – one of the Gold Coast’s first high rises. It had 72 luxury apartments and was a stone’s throw from Cavill Avenue.

It held fond memories for me and, I imagine, many families who enjoyed wonderful times together at the Iluka.

You can imagine my horror when I recently discovered that the Iluka has been demolished. Why? Because of concrete cancer.

You see the owner of the building was faced with a dilemma. Repair the concrete spalling which had been left untreated for decades at exorbitant cost or demolish the building. The owner chose to demolish.

A leading architect Professor Holden, Head of Architecture at the Griffith University in Qld, has said that high rises built in the 1970’s have an average lifespan of 40 years.

That is a sobering thought for apartment owners many of whom cannot afford special levies to repair widespread concrete spalling.

So what is the solution? For some buildings, it may simply be too late. The Iluka is a case in point.

For other buildings, the key is preventative maintenance. As unpalatable as it might be, apartment owners need to realise that spending a little to detect and treat concrete spalling at an early stage saves money in the long run.”

Adrian Mueller also acknowledges that the challenge for strata managers and other stakeholders is to convince owners to invest in proactive maintenance to protect their investment by spending a little in the short term to save big money down the track.

Says  Adrian “Convincing owners to spend now to save later is no mean feat. But it is achievable. And doing so can avoid potential disasters.

I will miss the Iluka.”

Adrian specialises in strata law and those areas of the law that particularly deal with building defects.

“An apartment is someone’s home and most valuable asset. That is something worth protecting and knowing where you stand is vital” says Adrian.

For more information on concrete cancer, visit the following websites – Concrete Cancer or Remedia Structural Repairs

For NSW strata legal or levy collection advice please contact us here or call 02 9562 1266, we’re happy to assist.



Further Delays to Strata Law Reforms

Strata law reforms in NSW will be further delayed with changes now not due to come into place until July 2016.

The plan to reform the state’s 50-year-old strata laws was first flagged in 2011 but a series of ministerial changes have hampered the process.

For further information see – SMH and Strata Law Reforms

For NSW strata legal or levy collection advice contact us here or call 02 9562 1266, we’re happy to assist.



Complex Group, Strata & Community Title Law Reform

Bruce Bentley, partner JS Mueller & Co presented recently at a Legalwise Seminar ‘Strata & Community Title Law Reform’ and Complex Group Title.’

For more information read the paper here – Strata & Community Title Law Reform and Complex Group Title

For NSW strata legal or levy collection advice please contact us here or call 02 9562 1266, we’re happy to assist.

 



11 Steps to Combat Short Term Letting

As any Airbnb (and similar sites) convert will attest, where there’s a spare bed, there’s money to be made. But while the rise and rise of short-term letting sites have delivered a windfall to many apartment-owners for some, its days – or nights – may be numbered.

Many residential committees are hitting back at apartment owners who sublet their lot’s, blaming loud parties and bad behaviour for the move to stamp out the unofficial ‘bed-and-breakfast’ businesses.

It’s apparent that many Australians are fed up with the issues surrounding short term letting and are looking for solutions.

Bruce Bentley, expert Strata Lawyer provides ‘eleven steps to combat short term living’ inclusive of case studies and a podcast. Click below to download his paper inclusive of case studies.

For NSW strata legal or levy collection advice please contact us here or call 02 9562 1266, we’re happy to assist.



Eleven Days…Act Now! NSW Home Building Legislation

1 December 2014 the home building legislation in NSW will change. The changes to the legislation may mean that some owners corporations will lose all of their rights to make claims for building defects.

  • 11 Days until 1 December 2014!
  • Do not get caught out!
  • The time to act is now!
  • Have your buildings inspected by a building consultant to check for defects!
  • Avoid losing your rights to make a building defect claim!

At JS Mueller & Co we work with a number of reputable building consultants and engineers. We can organise a building inspection for any building that you manage to check for defects before the 1 December deadline. Act quickly otherwise you may run out of time.

If you would like to discuss the changes to the NSW home building legislation or have JS Mueller & Co organise a building inspection, please contact us now.

For NSW strata legal or levy collection advice please contact us here or call 02 9562 1266, we’re happy to assist.



34 Days to go…NSW Home Building Legislation Changes

1 December 2014 the home building legislation in NSW will change. The changes to the legislation may mean that some owners corporations will lose all of their rights to make claims for building defects.

  • 34 Days until 1 December 2014!
  • Do not get caught out!
  • The time to act is now!
  • Have your buildings inspected by a building consultant to check for defects!
  • Avoid losing your rights to make a building defect claim!

At JS Mueller & Co we work with a number of reputable building consultants and engineers. We can organise a building inspection for any building that you manage to check for defects before the 1 December deadline.

But you must act quickly otherwise you may run out of time.

If you would like to discuss the changes to the NSW home building legislation or have JS Mueller & Co organise a building inspection, please contact us now on the details below.

For NSW strata legal or levy collection advice please contact us here or call 02 9562 1266, we’re happy to assist.