To Elise Riley, the building offered a kind of rear entry to the rental market at a time when so many were bursting through the front door.
Tenancies across the building — part of the Victorian government's affordable housing scheme — were allocated using a ballot, its 39 units reserved for low to moderate income earners.
When Ms Riley's name was drawn, letting the first-time renter and her boyfriend move in without a rental history, the long leases and below-market rent seemed too good to be true.
"We thought it was stable, secure housing, which is really important in the current day," Ms Riley, 20, said.
But looking back on problems that arose across the south-east Melbourne building in the months since, Ms Riley reflected her three-year lease now seemed like a "trap".
An ABC investigation has revealed the company that built the apartments has strong links to a notorious residential construction company that collapsed last year, leaving some home owners unsure if they'll recover money they say they are owed.
The state government, which bought the building for $20 million in a deal that settled last September, insists it carried out due diligence checks before it signed a sale contract.
Wet carpet wouldn't dry
Perched on a street corner in a growing part of Cheltenham, the four-storey building was bought off-the-plan by Homes Victoria, the state government's social and affordable housing agency, in June 2021.
Homes Victoria appointed community housing provider National Affordable Housing Victoria (NAHV) to manage tenancies as part its affordable housing ramp-up.
An occupancy permit was issued in September 2023, and residents were welcomed as the year drew to a close.
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When Jay Beckerleg and Jeffrey Stewart's names were drawn from the ballot, they made a hasty decision to move into the building, and were handed the keys days out from Christmas.
But by early January, the couple had noticed something odd: what appeared to be a wet patch of carpet lingering in the corner of the master bedroom.
"We first blamed the dog, but we quickly realised that it wasn't him," Ms Beckerleg said.
She said the area wouldn't dry.
As the damp patch grew, so too did the mould that established itself in the carpet.
According to Ms Beckerleg, some of the pair's possessions sustained water damage before they decided to abandon the room.
The construction company and the tenants offered competing accounts of the repairs timeline — the tenants said the issue dragged on for weeks after it was reported in early January.
Construction company SLC Bayside initially said the tenants refused multiple requests to access the unit. It later retracted that statement in light of contradictory evidence and said the tenants began to refuse access about a month-and-a-half after the issue was reported.
Video of the repair works shows a trickle of water entering the apartment while a hose sprays the area outside, the carpet pulled up and a section of wall removed.
Ms Beckerleg and Mr Stewart eventually relocated down the hall after taking their case to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT), which ordered their housing provider to carry out urgent repairs by the end of March.
The company said it quickly rectified the issue after it regained access to the property.
But in their new apartment, the tenants alleged they soon discovered another issue, saying they learnt one of the showers leaked into the unit below.
"Moving … was supposed to be a fresh start," Ms Beckerleg said.
"All of this happening so quickly was pretty disappointing and disheartening."
Multiple defects in the building addressed
Two floors down, Ms Riley had been unpacking kitchenware in December when she discovered water gathering in a cupboard above her stove.
As she settled into the tenancy, she said an apparent leak in the area worsened and water began dripping through the range hood.
"We could no longer use [the range hood]out of concern for the electricity in it being damaged by water," the 20-year-old said.
"We've now got mould building here, and there's permanent water damage to the hinges and everything there."
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SLC Bayside's statement said the leak was caused by a loose plumbing fitting — one of about three identified in the building — which was quickly fixed, with any remaining damage to be rectified.
Ms Riley's concerns about potential damage were heightened for another reason: she had not been provided with a condition report when she moved in.
The 20-year-old said these experiences undermined government plans to ease the housing crisis by tipping billions into the social and affordable housing sectors.
"Knowing they cared so little about the people that are here when the entire point of this scheme is for people who are vulnerable to have safe, secure housing has just been horrific," she said.
In a statement, NAHV said an audit had identified two renters who did not have condition reports, which had since been provided.
The ABC is aware of other issues across the building, including a leak in the roof, water pooling in the car park, and what appeared to be cigarette butts set in a concrete slab.
SLC Bayside, whose website says every project is an "exercise in perfection", said all of these issues were promptly addressed, attributing the leaks to the building settling as well as new fittings and fixtures.
It said the carpark flooding was an isolated incident, caused by pumps designed to drain water away from the area being switched off.
"Since the project's completion, a small number of minor defects have been reported," the company's director, Sid Naqebullah, said in a statement.
"SLC Bayside takes its obligations seriously and all reported defects have either been rectified or are in the process of being rectified in line with our defect liability period."
The state's construction watchdog, the Victorian Building Authority (VBA), is understood to be investigating potential non-compliant building work identified during a proactive inspection of the Cheltenham building last year.
Creditors claim original planning permit agent owes millions
SLC Bayside's website promotes the Cheltenham building — known as Cheltenham House — among other lavish apartment blocks built across Melbourne's south-east.
However, the ABC can reveal the company that worked to obtain the Cheltenham building's 2019 planning permit was not SLC Bayside but Shangri-La Construction, a company directed by Sid Naqebullah's brother, Obaid.
Before its collapse, Shangri-La Construction faced a number of lawsuits over allegedly defective buildings. It was put into liquidation last March.
In 2020, the VBA took disciplinary action against Obaid Naqebullah over the use of combustible cladding on an 81-unit complex in Clayton.
A separate case saw the County Court last year order Obaid Naqebullah to pay the state more than $1 million in damages and interest after it stepped in to remove combustible cladding from a three-storey building in Caulfield, according to the VBA.
A recent update from liquidators said more than 30 unsecured creditors claimed the company together owed them more than $42.3 million dollars, including about $9 million in damages awarded to a group of Brighton home-owners through VCAT in 2023.
Another creditor, apartment-owner Tamara Railton-Stewart, described the saga as an "ongoing nightmare".
While a payout from a government insurance agency covered what she said was about$2 million in repairs for the Caulfield apartment block, she said she was about $250,000 out of pocket from interest on a strata loan, legal fees, expert reports and accommodation costs.
All up, liquidators from BRI Ferrier identified 10 properties across Melbourne with "contingent claims against the company with respect to building defects" at various stages of the court process.
But those liquidators said they were without funds to defend proceedings. Shangri-La Construction had just $18,700 in assets when they stepped in.
Ms Railton-Stewart said it remained unclear what the company's creditors will recover.
Further links between companies
The ABC can also reveal SLC Bayside once described itself as being "led by brothers Obi and Sid Naqebullah" in a now-deleted line from its website.
When the ABC asked about the blurb, SLC Bayside said Obaid Naqebullah had never been an employee or director, and only featured on its website to support his brother.
The company said it became involved in the Cheltenham building when it was awarded the construction contract by a third company that owned the land, after Shangri-La Construction acted as that company's agent during the planning application process.
That third company is called 44 Station Road Pty Ltd, and ASIC records reveal its director as Samira Zemaryalai, who shares a residential address with Obaid Naqebullah and has been referred to in legal documents as his wife.
Another company directed by Ms Zemaryalai, SLM Corp Pty Ltd, holds a vast majority of non-beneficial shares in SLC Bayside.
According to corporate records, all four companies were registered at the same South Melbourne address.
Separately, liquidators found Shangri-La Construction sold almost $150,000 worth of assets such as equipment and vehicles to SLC Bayside in July 2021, the same month it ceased trade.
There is no suggestion of issues with the asset transfers, and the liquidator has decided the transaction was a legitimate sale.
The ABC sought comment from Obaid Naqebullah through his legal representatives, but did not receive a response.
In the Cheltenham block, residents have questioned whether the government was aware of the links between the two companies before the $20 million sale was settled in September 2023.
"This is not something that's hard to find," Ms Beckerleg said.
A spokesperson for Homes Victoria said background checks "did not highlight any items of concern" before the agency signed a sale contract with vendor 44 Station Road Pty Ltd in June 2021.
"All due diligence checks – including legal, planning and counterparty verification were carried out prior to purchase," they said.
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