New Norfolk Mills development under administration

EXCLUSIVE

THE company building The Mills, the 118-hectare master-planned community of 700 new homes on New Norfolk’s eastern edge, has gone into administration. Creditors of Omega Investment Holdings Pty Ltd will meet in Brisbane on July 26 (today).

Launched in 2021 with a detailed planning report to secure zoning approvals, the proposal was billed as a major renewal project for the Derwent Valley.

The project site is a triangular area bounded by the Lyell Highway as it enters New Norfolk, Glebe Road and Poulters Road on the hillside above.

In addition to the large number of homes – more than a quarter of New Norfolk’s existing housing stock – the proposal also included a market, hospitality and tourism, as well as significant medical and aged care elements. A large central park was also included.

To date, a third of those 700 homes have been completed.

Derwent Valley Council’s general manager Ron Sanderson told the Gazette this week that of the 718 building lots approved for the site, 213 lots have been sealed to date.

A large number have been completed by Ronald Young Builders, Wilson Homes, Cunic Homes and Creative Homes, who took over construction elements as the original house-and-land package sale concept became unviable.

It’s understood that the venture ran into economic headwinds caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and a rapid and unforeseen rise in the cost of building.

Whereas buyers had entered fixed price contracts for their new homes, material costs skyrocketed and homes were left incomplete.   

As recently as February 2023, the company was assuring councillors and prospective buyers that it was still in the process of selling the project’s next stage.

Real estate firm Harcourts took over The Mills office at 1 High St, New Norfolk, to offer house-and-land packages as well as blocks of residential land. But by March 2024 that retail site had closed down.

Billed as a $500 million residential and community project, The Mills was said to inject $139 million annually into the Tasmanian economy over the next 20 years. 

The company, Omega Investment Holdings PL, went into Voluntary Administration on July 16, when administrators Matthew Charles Hudson and Fabian Kane Micheletto were appointed.

Notice of the July 26 creditors meeting has been advertised on the ASIC website.