Bathla operations ground to a halt
Teneo has effectively halted development across the Bathla Group portfolio after emergency funding ran out.
On Thursday, administrator Stephen Longley said 125 staff are affected across 13 sites.
A skeleton crew of 67 will manage asset preservation and the realisation process.
Since Bathla collapsed into voluntary administration in late August carrying $3.4 billion in known debts, its workforce has been cut by 338.
Extension condition breached
The shutdown comes days after realestatesource.com.au reported the NSW Supreme Court granted Teneo a 12-month extension – pushing the second creditors’ meeting to September 2027 – to allow time for an orderly completion of unfinished projects.
However, that court order was explicitly contingent on securing ongoing lender capital to maintain site progress.
Prior to the administration, Bathla was running roughly 45 active residential developments across greater Sydney.
Early in September, Teneo secured $4.7 million in short-term funding from five lenders to keep 13 key sites moving while standing down 213 staff (continues below).
Those funds are the ones just exhausted with lenders refusing to extend supply.
“As a result, construction workers across 13 Bathla sites have been stood down and all construction operations have ceased,” Mr Longley said.
Focus will now shift entirely to working alongside secured lenders – who are owed $3.08b – for a sell-off of Bathla’s sprawling land bank and subdivision holdings.
Several major lenders and financiers have already moved to protect their security or appoint receivers across specific sites.
Non-bank lender 360 Capital has appointed receivers over 162 Bathla properties representing $31.7m in debt, while Centuria’s total exposure stands at roughly $282.5m across direct and fund-managed facilities.
They join billionaire developer Bob Ell, whose Leda Holdings bypassed the administration process to seize project sites at Marsden Park and Tallawong to protect its $200m exposure.
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