Builder Icon spends $24 million after Opal Tower cracking

Construction giant Icon claims it has spent $24 million since the evacuation of the Opal Tower skyscraper last December.

Fifteen owners are still locked out of their Sydney Olympic Park apartments as the cracking repairs continue.

One owner sold the worst affected apartment to Icon on the 10th floor.

Icon was the company that built the tower which was completed in August last year.

Icon told the ABC the Opal Tower event was insurable, however it did not reveal how much of the $24 million it was planning to claim.

The amount includes money spent on housing residents in temporary accommodation.

The ABC reported Icon's NSW business reported $163 million in revenue for 2018, down from the $335 million in 2017.

It reported a $1.63 million net profit in 2018, down from $6.8 million in 2017.

An Icon spokesperson said the company's approach to Opal Tower since the Christmas Eve evacuation "cannot be questioned".

"[This is] all without admission of liability," a company spokesperson told the ABC.

Domain recently reported Sydney Olympic Park apartment sales in the suburb have dropped 85 per cent in the six months to June compared to the same time last year. 

Across Sydney, buyers interest in new apartments has slipped, with views per listing for new apartments down 9 per cent in the first half of 2019.

Agents noted the Opal Tower event had tarred the entire suburb.

“Sydney Olympic Park has been affected because [buyers] think the entire park is a problem, not a particular building,” one agent said.

“They’re all looking for that one word … [asking] is Icon the builder?”

McGrath agent John McManus, who is selling an apartment in Sydney Olympic Park, said buyers were skeptical about all new builds.