Geraldton council fears for Batavia Motor Inne as co-owner Joe Scaffidi has a business go into administration

The City of Greater Geraldton is concerned the end of the “sad saga” to demolish the Batavia Motor Inne is far from over following co-owner Joe Scaffidi sending a key business interest into the hands of administrators. Citing health issues and a desire to focus on family, Mr Scaffidi — the husband of former City of Perth lord mayor Lisa Scaffidi — appointed KordaMentha’s Richard Tucker and John Bumbak to take control of Central City Pty Ltd last month. The business, made up of two Perth neighbouring hotels, the Adina and Akara, worth about $50 million, was hit hard by COVID-19 and rising interest rates, and cash flow suffered as a result. The derelict Batavia Motor Inne site on Fitzgerald Street was bought by Mr Scaffidi and fellow directors Anthony Scaffidi and Michael O’Sullivan under a separate entity, 54 Fitzgerald Pty Ltd, in 2021. The eyesore has been home to rough sleepers and the scene of numerous violent crimes and sex attacks, one which saw a Victorian man who lied to get past WA’s hard border repeatedly rape a 14-year-old girl he’d groomed on Snapchat. It’s also the scene of two other alleged sex attacks — one in December last year and another in March, which allegedly involved two men luring an intoxicated 12-year-old girl to the site and sexually assaulting her. The once roaring hospitality hot spot was fenced off in January and the gates finally locked in April, but that has not stopped deliberately lit fires and antisocial behaviour at the site. The Geraldton Guardian revealed earlier this month the owner’s chosen contractor did not hold a suitable licence for commercial demolition. Mayor Shane Van Styn said the City was concerned the handover of another business could leave the abandoned site in Geraldton in the lurch a second time. “We’re obviously concerned that a large project with large revenue streams has been sent into administration in Perth, could mean that a project that requires a large capital injection may not get off the ground,” he said. If it did fall through, it would be a case of history repeating itself, following Singaporean syndicate Batavia Village Pty Ltd’s failure to demolish the site. It eventually went into administration in 2020, while racking up a debt of almost $350,000 in rates and fines. “Joe Scaffidi has been at the front of negotiations and, indeed, legal actions on this project. To see him officially pulling back and announcing retirement due to health reasons causes great concern. However, we do wish him well,” Mr Van Styn said. “Hopefully the remaining directors — which are some of his family members — can at least see through completion of the demolition of the Batavia.” The directors of 54 Fitzgerald Pty Ltd said the two entities concerned were unrelated and “one has nothing to do with the other”. A spokesperson for KordaMentha said the administrators had been assigned to deal with Central City Pty Ltd only, and no other properties owned by Mr Scaffidi. “He’s been under health stress and wants to spend more time with his family and on his health and he needed to get this project, which has been a lot of work for him and quite a bit of stress, out of his life,” he said. “I don’t think anyone’s ever retired completely these days but he certainly wants to wind down a lot because of his health.” Mr Van Styn said the City was discussing what action could be taken to ensure demolition of the former motel progressed. “The City initially was comforted by the fact that a group as financial as the Scaffidi family and the like were behind the project,” he said. “However now seeing some parts of that group go into administration, our confidence has now been tempered. “The City will continue to try and work with 54 Fitzgerald Pty Ltd and the Scaffidi family to achieve a resolution in what is a very long, sad, sad saga.”