SOURCE: The Illawarra Mercury
The property dubbed "the abandoned Minnamurra mansion" has been listed for auction with a price guide "above $1.8 million".
The palatial Dunmore Equestrian Centre homestead was two-thirds complete when work stopped six years ago after the Belmorgan companies of the property's then owner John Kosseris were placed in receivership.
The property sat empty for six years, complicated by court orders to restore environmentally sensitive wetlands damaged during construction work, repairs that Mr Kosseris claimed would cost $4 million.
As a result, St George Bank, which held the mortgage, refused to take possession of the property. During that time the property became a magnet for vandals - and a popular illegal skate park regularly featuring on YouTube.
The mansion, at 71 Fig Hill Lane, Minnamurra, has an estimated internal area of about 5000 square metres and includes six bedrooms, nine bathrooms and a 16-car garage.
The 40-hectare property, which has spectacular 360-degree views across the southern Illawarra, has approximately three kilometres of Minnamurra River frontage.
At the end of 2013, Wollongong lawyer Christopher Adams formed a partnership with some fellow Illawarra businessmen to take possession of the vandalised property.
Between February and August last year they spent $200,000 cleaning and securing the property with the aim of unveiling the building's potential as one of the region's grandest properties.
Mr Adams said an initial expression of interest campaign attracted more than 60 national and international inquiries, including schools, religious groups and private developers.
The property went to contract but the sale fell through, prompting a new campaign through agent Michelle Lay of Ray White Kiama.
A date for the auction will be set in the next week, Ms Lay said.
Mr Adams said it had been confirmed there was no asbestos on the site, however there was still no agreement with Shellharbour City Council over remediation work on the damaged area adjoining the river.
Shellharbour council spent more than $350,000 pursuing Mr Kosseris through the courts and said the existing orders still stood.
Mr Adams said all potential purchasers were made aware of the issues, but the advice they had received was that the area was now so overgrown it was best left as it was.