source : the age
The son of accused wife abuser Antony Catalano has taken out two new mortgages over the Wategos Beach, Byron Bay, development site where the Catalanos plan to build a controversial $29 million family compound.
Details of the fresh loans against the prime parcel of land are revealed in financial documents seen by this masthead. The disgraced businessman is continuing to prepare his response to criminal charges of assaulting his third wife, Stefanie, at their St Kilda penthouse in March, which are now before a Melbourne court.
News of the new debt on the Brownell Drive land, which is held in the name of the businessman’s 25-year-old son, Luca Catalano, follow similar revelations in this masthead in the middle of last month that another of Catalano’s children, Jordan Catalano, had taken out two new mortgages on his father’s Raes on Wategos luxury resort. Raes is a key asset of the Catalano empire and was already mortgaged to Westpac.
The big four bank has also lent to the accused abuser via a mortgage over an adjacent piece of prime Byron Bay land where the two-home luxury compound is set to be built. That second block on Julian Place is held in the name of Antony Catalano himself. It was transferred to him from one of his own companies, Raes Residences Pty Ltd, at the end of 2024 for $3.75 million.
Westpac is also heavily exposed elsewhere in the Catalano web of companies and assets via loans the bank has provided. Westpac holds a mortgage over the second development block of land. Westpac declined to comment on the extent of its financial exposure to the disgraced businessman.
The combined 4087-square-metre dual development site, which is within a rainforest setting, has been the subject of ongoing controversy. In early June, the proposed mansion complex was approved by the NSW Land and Environment Court, which ended an 18-month battle between Catalano and Byron Shire Council.
In December 2024, the council unanimously refused the development application. Mayor Sarah Ndiaye said the plans didn’t meet “environmental, planning, or community expectations”. The NSW Land and Environment Court decision overruled that refusal.
Construction, however, is still some way off. It can’t begin until a separate construction certificate is issued, which requires council sign-off on further technical reports including geotechnical and groundwater assessments.
The compound development is close to Catalano’s Raes on Wategos and is on the same Byron Bay street where Antony and Stefanie live. That home is in the name of Stefanie Catalano, with whom Antony has four children. The residence is also mortgaged to Westpac.
Antony Catalano, whose bail conditions were last month altered to allow him to visit Byron Bay, was contacted for comment on the latest refinancing, but did not respond.
The two new mortgages on the Brownell Avenue land were taken out by Luca Catalano in early May and June. Luca took control of the land at the end of 2024, when it was transferred to him by Raes Residences Pty Ltd for $1 million.
Luca was until January this year head of business development at his father’s Australian Community Media, which is half owned by billionaire Alex Waislitz. Luca has also worked full-time as an equities analyst at Keybridge Capital, where his father is an investor and a director. Antony Catalano is on a leave of absence from the board as his assault case plays out.
Luca accessed the new finance from the same Sydney lender, Grosvenor Street Services Pty Ltd, that his brother, Jordan, used in May when he remortgaged Raes on Wategos. Jordan was installed as a director of a range of his father’s companies after Catalano was charged with assault.
Corporate records reveal the finance company’s ultimate owner to be Sydney-based Centuria Capital, a listed funds management and real estate group led jointly by John McBain and Jason Huljich. Centuria was contacted for comment but did not respond.
Antony Catalano is facing eight criminal charges in the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court. Police allege he swung a clothes iron at his wife’s head, unlawfully imprisoned her in their luxury apartment, threatened to stab her to death, and choked or strangled her.
She was admitted to hospital with a broken tailbone. The pair had previously been separated but reunited early this year before the alleged assault.
The former ACM executive chair said he was “struggling with significant mental health and substance abuse issues” and entered a Malvern rehabilitation facility shortly after the charges were laid, amid the public fallout.
Since leaving that clinic, he has appeared before the court only by video link. Catalano is scheduled to be back before the court on the assault charges in October.
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