Tenants request mediation

As retailers continue to desert Harbour Town Shopping Centre, a number of past and present tenants have banded together to request mediation with landlord ING.

Speaking at the Docklands Community Forum on April 30, forum representative and owner of Le Cirque Fine Foods Albert Morcos put an end to rumours of a class-action lawsuit against ING.

He said a group of tenants were involved in mediation with ING, with a range of issues requiring resolution.

According to Mr Morcos, each of the retailers had different complaints, but the common thread related to promises made by ING to the retailers who had invested in the centre.

Mr Morcos told the forum that the majority of retailers in the upper level of the centre had left.

He said most retailers had signed a five-year lease, of which many had expired at the end of last year or early this year.

It’s understood that Sydney-based real estate investment group Ashe Morgan plans to acquire Harbour Town and the Icehouse, with conditional contracts to purchase the site signed in March.

Mr Morcos said Harbour Town retailers were yet to be advised if the centre had a new owner.

An ING Real Estate Development representative from the Sydney head office declined to comment.

Harbour Town management did not response to a request for comment prior to deadline.