In mid-May, the first report of Dunedin-based Insolvency Management Ltd (IML) said nine unsecured creditors involved were unlikely to see any of the more than $176,000 owed to them.
Yesterday, Iain Nellies of IML was contacted and said the total owed at present was now estimated at more than $620,000, including $120,000 to 10 unsecured creditors, more than $100,000 to builders and about $400,000 to a finance company.
While the investigation was still under way, it "appeared" the only asset was the sale of the remainder of the Santa Sabina project, he said.
"On the face of it, there is no hope [for a creditors' payout] as there are no assets; just debt.
"[However] investigations are still under way and there is no certainty," Mr Nellies said.
It was understood one of the Dunedin creditors may be owed $400,000-$500,000, but Mr Nellies had not received a claim from the company for that amount.
Fifteen completed apartments, of the total 42 proposed for the complex, have been sold and are not involved in the liquidation.
The remaining development for the balance of 27 yet-to-be-built apartments was sold to an unnamed Australian company in April, understood to be, but not confirmed, for more than $1.3 million, and the company is understood to want to complete the project.
The proceeds from the sale did not cover the project's debts and original developer Bill Lowe, of Gardens View Ltd, then placed the company in voluntary liquidation.
Mr Nellies said the sale of the project was at market value and supported by valuations, however, he emphasised it was "sold in a [property] market going backwards" and may have been worth more when the property market was more buoyant.
Other aspects of the investigation being looked at included claims for cost overruns in the development and whether there were any other saleable assets due to the original development company.
"The question is whether there are some assets which have not been disclosed," Mr Nellies said
The on-sold development to the Australian company includes the resource consent to construct stage two, consisting of land, 25 units and a further two units within the former Santa Sabina convent building.
Santa Sabina, while in voluntary liquidation by the developer, is one of three high-profile projects in Dunedin whose developers have run into trouble.
Finance companies Hanover Finance and Crown Money Corporation have forced a mortgagee sale on the developer of the historic BNZ building in Princes St, while South Canterbury Finance is still considering tenders for the purchase of Dunedin's former chief post office, after developer McEwan Group had a more than $7.5 million debt called in.
