The land is owned by Ken Petzierides who said he and his wife bought the land in “early 2017” but had decided to sell.

“We decided we did not want to spend the money in Eden at this time,” Mr Petzierides said.

In June 2017 Irisha project manager Simon Petzierides submitted a development application to Bega Valley Shire Council for four units and a swimming pool to be built on the site at a cost of almost $2million, although the DA has not yet been approved according to council.

In August 2018 Simon Petzierides said the four townhouses would be “luxury villas” and that of the four “only one remained”.

“They’re four bedroom with a sauna and a swimming pool and lifts. They will cost $1million plus. We have sold them through our international network,” he said, despite the fact council said the DA was “undetermined”. 

But on Wednesday Ken Petzierides said that construction costs had increased and this had contributed to the decision to sell the land.

Ken Petzierides was a director of Rubycove, the company that along with Irisha where Simon Petzierides is currently a director, was involved in bidding for the Hotel Australasia.

The purchase did not go ahead after there were differences of opinion about the side deed, what it contained and the sequence of the negotiations according to Simon Petzierides.

But it was later discovered that Simon Petzierides has been charged with three counts of obtaining a financial advantage by deception of a Commonwealth entity.

The Albert Terrace land is now on the market through Chris Wilson with an asking price of $795,000 for the 1256sqm residential allotment.