Residential developer and builder Villa World has signed a joint venture to develop land with China-focused property marketing company Ausin Group as it moves, separately, to finalise a problematic $60 million deal for the vast Eynesbury estate in Melbourne's west.
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Villa World and Ausin Group will team up to sell "premium price point house and land" packages at a 148-lot development in Rochedale, south-east Queensland.
Prices would start at $650,000, rather than the $395,000 originally intended, Villa World said.
Ausin Group specialises in selling apartments and house and land deals into China.
Founder and general manager Joseph Zaja has built a network of agents in major Chinese cities that sell stock for Australian property players including Stockland, Mirvac, Lendlease, Intrapac, Cedar Woods and Setia.
The joint venture would be on a 50-50 basis and free up capital to recycle into other projects, Villa World said.
At the same time, the ASX-listed developer moved to withdraw a default notice it issued against the Malaysian-backed buyer of its Eynesbury estate after it failed to settle on time, potentially forfeiting the $45 million already paid.
Villa World has developed part of Eynesbury's 1250-hectare house and land residential project in a joint venture with the landowner, the Woodhouse Pastoral Company, which is controlled by one of Australia's richest families, the Baillieus.
The joint venture partners sold the project to Hyde Property Group in 2014 for $60 million.
However, Villa World issued a default order against Hyde Property Group, controlled by Melbourne apartment developer Francis Kwong, in late September after it failed to pay a final instalment.
The delay has cost Hyde Property Group dearly.
It settled the first $30 million tranche of the deal in mid-2014; paid another $15 million towards a second $30 million tranche but got into trouble and extended settlement to September, agreeing to pay an extra $3 million on the purchase price.
In order to lift the notice and delay settlement until late November, it paid another $9.7 million to ASX-listed Villa World and agreed to a revised purchase price of $34.5 million, Villa World chief executive Craig Treasure said last week.
"Title to the second tranche property currently remains with the Eynesbury joint venture, which has now received total payments of approximately $24.7 million towards the revised purchase price," he said.
The deal appears to be complicated by a secondary transaction between Mr Kwong and Chinese property giant Country Garden to onsell the project to Country Garden for a speculated $200 million.
