Elegant, timeless and convenient \u2013 that was how Observatory Place, a 24-storey residential building in Parramatta featuring 173 apartments, was described by its developer. But despite construction finishing in 2022, the tower is abandoned.<\/p>\n
Identifiable by its orange cladding, passersby can\u2019t miss the 5-7 Parkes Street building that towers over Jubilee Park, on the southern side of the railway station. They also can\u2019t miss the fence that stretches around it, preventing anyone from entering the vacant complex that is now sporting chipped paint and graffiti on the walls.<\/p>\n
In 2022, serious defects were identified onsite during an inspection, with NSW Fair Trading issuing a Building Work Rectification Order<\/a> (BWRO) and Prohibition Order<\/a> for the tower in 2023, which prevented anyone from moving in until the defects were fixed.<\/p>\n But the orders were just the beginning of the troubles: in 2024, the developer of the site, Parkmeng Pty Ltd, was placed into external administration. The men behind Parkmeng, which was established in 2014, are familiar names: Fayad Fayad, Remon Fayad, and their father Sam Fayad were all the former bosses of Dyldam, which went into administration in 2020.<\/p>\n As reported by this masthead<\/a>, Sam Fayad has what is believed to be the largest bankruptcy in Australian history, with personal debts of more than $2.8 billion, including $46.5 million owing to the Australian Taxation Office. His sons also have combined tax debts worth more than $30 million, and both declared themselves bankrupt in July<\/a>.<\/p>\n