Race club takes property giant to court over $70 million land deal
Just weeks after its members voted down the $5 billion proposed sale of the western Sydney track, it has emerged that the Australian Turf Club has raced to the NSW Supreme Court to prevent another development plan from falling over.
The club, which also owns Randwick, Rosehill and Warwick Farm racecourses, has launched proceedings against Mirvac after the property giant sought to tear up a 2017 partnership to develop a block adjacent to Canterbury Park.
Mirvac also wants repayment of an $8 million access fee from the cash-strapped ATC, which stands to net as much as $70 million from the full sale of the grassy site.
After years of local political resistance and opposition from community groups, the 1.28 hectare parcel was rezoned for high-density residential use six weeks ago as part of the Minns government's push to address the state's housing shortage.
It paves the way for the project of about 200 units to proceed, eight years after it was conceived. But a pre-existing stipulation requiring the land to be available as an overflow car park for night racing meetings remains in place, presenting a major hurdle for new dwellings going up.
That long-standing condition imposed by Canterbury-Bankstown City Council was a trigger for Mirvac to pull out and demand its money back, said sources unable to speak publicly.
The race club's case against the $8 billion company, which is scheduled to be heard in Sydney next Friday, is that its grounds for termination are invalid.
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Vice Chair Tim Hale has been announced as the new chairman of the Australian Turf Club
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