Supa Centre sale an off-track win
Klimenko, daughter of the late property developer and co-founder of Westfield, John Saunders, is well known for her pink hair, tattoos, down-to-earth attitude and penchant for motorsport.
She owns the Erebus Motor Sport team, which runs a Mercedes-Benz that went around in Adelaide earlier this month as part of the formerly Ford and Holden-only V8 Supercar contest.
Motorsport fans should be able to spot her among the throng of spectators at next Sunday's Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne.
The Tuggerah centre, which is one of the better performers for big-box hardware chain Bunnings and includes other big name brands such as Bing Lee, Nick Scali, The Good Guys, Spotlight and others, was sold to Bunnings so it can increase the size of the store and give it a more modern format.
Image makeover
Embattled Gold Coast funds manager Peter Drake has called in the big guns to help his LM Investment Management in its stoush with Trilogy Capital Group.
Drake hired so-called "mayor maker" Graham Staerk as a lobbyist in November, and in recent weeks the former Gold Coast Bulletin columnist has been trying to repair LM's battered public image, wining and dining journalists around the country.
Staerk is no stranger to controversy - a former bankrupt, he left his Bully gig a couple of years ago after online newsletter Crikey revealed conflicts of interest with his lobbying clients.
He told CBD that LM wanted government to tighten access to registers of unitholders. This would make it harder for predators such as Trilogy to mount raids on the funds for which LM is the responsible entity.
"It wasn't set up to enable responsible entities to pirate each other's funds," Staerk said. "It needs to be tightened up to proscribe the misuse of the registry."
On the publicity side LM needs plenty of help, with a recent episode of ABC TV's Four Corners casting aspersions on Maddison Estate, a big Drake-backed development into which plenty of investors' funds have been poured.
However, relations with specialist website propertyreview.com.au appear to have soured, with Staerk blasting editor Nelson Yap by text message last week. In the message, obtained by CBD, Staerk accuses Yap of "blatantly running Trilogy's false agenda ... this is neither ethical or balanced".
"This matter will now be passed to LM's legal team to deal with," Staerk fulminated. "I will have no further contact."
Yap told CBD the text message - and an earlier phone call from Staerk - were "mysterious".
He said his website ran just two stories about LM and hadn't heard a peep from LM's lawyers.
"We have no arguments with LM, we are just reporting the news," he said.
Battle continues
They are at war in the courts and now fashion designer Kym Ellery has brought her battle with the Myer empire headed by Bernie Brookes to more comfortable territory - glossy magazine land.
Ellery has been on something of a PR blitz, with at least two soft-as-marshmallow profiles popping up in recent weeks.
First off the presses was a three-page photo spread in the March edition of Marie Claire, purporting to depict a day in the life of the wunderkind fashionista.
If the photos are to be believed, Ellery wears four different outfits (including a wetsuit) in the course of a day that sees her take a trip to the beach, drink coffee at a Bondi cafe and get out of the office and into a new outfit in time for dinner with her boyfriend at 6pm.
On Sunday it was News Ltd's turn, rolling out a four-page feature on Ellery's friendship with actor Phoebe Tonkin.
Readers learned that Ellery doesn't like calling her secondary range L'America "a diffusion line" - which is a key part of Myer's legal argument that the designer breached her exclusivity contract with the department store.
But those hoping for an update on the state of the legal stoush were left little the wiser, with Ellery saying only that the situation was "regrettable".
The use of the past tense might also lead the unwary to believe the case is over.
In fact, it returns to the Victorian Supreme Court for a directions hearing on Tuesday.
Frequently Asked Questions about this Article…
The Supa Centa at Tuggerah on the NSW Central Coast was sold by Terrace Tower, the family group linked to revhead heiress Betty Klimenko. The site was purchased by Bunnings so it can expand the size of its store and adopt a more modern format.
The Tuggerah sale highlights continued demand for big-box retail sites: the centre hosts major tenants such as Bunnings, Bing Lee, Nick Scali, The Good Guys and Spotlight. For property investors, that tenant mix and Bunnings’ willingness to expand suggest strong localized trading performance, although individual investor outcomes will depend on broader market and fund-specific factors.
Buying the Tuggerah centre lets Bunnings increase the size of its store and move to a more modern format at that location. Strategically, this is consistent with Bunnings investing in larger, updated stores to improve customer experience and operations at key sites.
Betty Klimenko is a high-profile figure — a revhead heiress and daughter of developer John Saunders (a Westfield co‑founder) — who, through her family group Terrace Tower, sold the Tuggerah property. For investors, notable owners can draw attention to asset transactions and sometimes influence how assets are managed or marketed, but investment decisions should be based on fundamentals rather than celebrity alone.
LM Investment Management, led by Peter Drake, is in a public dispute with Trilogy Capital Group. LM has engaged lobbyist Graham Staerk and is pushing for tighter access to registers of unitholders to make it harder for rivals like Trilogy to mount raids on funds. The dispute, along with media scrutiny of LM-backed projects (such as Maddison Estate), is a governance and reputation issue investors should monitor because it can affect fund stability and investor confidence.
According to lobbyist Graham Staerk, LM wants government rules changed so registers of unitholders can’t be misused by responsible entities to ‘pirate’ each other’s funds. In practice, tighter access would make it harder for third parties to identify and approach unitholders to mount takeovers or raids, which proponents say protects funds; investors should watch both any regulatory changes and the balance between protecting funds and maintaining transparency.
The Maddison Estate is a major development backed by Peter Drake and has been subject to criticism on ABC TV’s Four Corners. The program cast aspersions on the project, and since investor money has been directed into the development, this scrutiny creates reputational and potentially financial risk for LM funds. Investors should follow legal and media developments to assess any impact on fund assets or governance.
Designer Kym Ellery is in a legal dispute with Myer over claims related to exclusivity and a secondary range (L'America). The matter returned to the Victorian Supreme Court for a directions hearing. For investors, such designer–retailer disputes underscore contractual and brand risks in fashion retail: exclusivity breaches, diffusion lines and public relations campaigns can affect product availability, brand perception and retailer relationships.
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