‘Legacy project’: New private school, hospital and uni plans hang by a thread

The main lender, Merricks Capital, agreed to a loan of about $60 million after the National Australia Bank withdrew initial in-principal loan approval. A second and third lender extended financing of up to $56 million.

The loans were intended to be short-term given that almost 500 hectares, known as Mereworth, was quickly on sold to father and son property investors Roy and Anthony Medich for almost $50 million.

But three years after that sale, Merricks has tapped Newpoint Advisory to step in as receivers on the back of their loan agreement, taking control of 10 corporate entities behind the property empire.

The appointment comes a month after Crown had enlisted CBRE to sell the largest farm in the land aggregation, known as Evandale. That 585-hectare property was expected to sell for more than the estimated $50 million still outstanding to Merricks, but had not hit the market officially.

The 40-year-old investor, who prefers to be known as a farmer, retains control of his family investment office Coronam, and other tech and property interests, including his historic Sutton Forest farm Newbury Hall that he bought in 2023 for $38.5 million.

However, Crown disputes the legitimacy of the appointment of receivers to the Berrima holdings.

“We are vigorously pursuing that matter through the courts,” said a spokesman for the Crown family.

“This follows a lengthy dispute with Merricks in which we have been deliberately frustrated at every step in our attempts to refinance these loans with other lenders.”

Crown has been enmeshed in a few legal battles of late. Earlier this month a year-long court stoush between Crown and his second and third lenders was finally settled in court and Crown ordered to pay out the lenders more than $14 million.

Crown’s joint venture with billionaire Robert Whyte over the redevelopment of a $28.6 million former quarry near Camden has also found its way to the Supreme Court after the venture’s holding company Macarthur Farm Pty Ltd was placed into receivership. In that matter Crown was recently found in breach of trust and in breach of his director’s duties after misappropriating $2.6 million, but that finding has been stayed while he returns to court to dispute the legality of that receivership.

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As Crown fronts up to his various court appointments, and his Bentley-driving wife Vanessa Crown awaits settlement on the sale of her almost $24 million Bronte house, Southern Highlands locals are left wondering whether their ambitious plans for Silicon Highlands were too good to be true.

Even if the receivers are willing to pursue land rezoning to make way for Silicon Highlands, the ambitious project is unlikely to progress in its current state.

The proposal seen by the Herald itemises five parcels of land to be rezoned to make way for Silicon Highlands, but Crown doesn’t own all of them.

One of the pivotal parcels, a significant 62-hectare block, slated to be the town centre and health and medical precinct set between the Hume Motorway and Old Hume Highway, was part of the Mereworth property that was sold to the Medich family three years ago.

The Medichs are not in a joint venture with Crown, but a caveat on title reveals that when they bought it Crown was given an option to buy it back. That option expired in June last year.

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