It was this World War II veteran’s second home. But now it sits on a $70 million developer gold mine.

Evripidis Mouxouris arrived in Sydney from Cyprus as a refugee in 1976, living a difficult life with a wife and two young children to care for.

At one point, he had only a can of sardines to feed his family, but no can opener, so he had to go door to door asking people in stores if they had a can opener they could lend him.

“We had nothing,” the 102-year-old said through a translator. “The club took us in.”

The Cyprus Club in Stanmore in the inner west was founded in 1929 and after the Turkish invasion of Northern Cyprus in 1974, it grew from a small group of friends into a community of thousands, making Australia the world’s largest Cypriot expatriate community after Greece.

Mouksoulis, a World War II veteran who joined the Allies because he “wanted to go overseas and fight the fascists,” plays cards with retired friends in the building’s basement bar every Tuesday. The upstairs bistro has live music and dancing, and serves delicious tzatziki, pita, halloumi and arni kleftiko (slow-cooked lamb with potatoes) for lunch.

But now the club is at a crossroads. Members say membership is falling and so is income as second and third generation Cypriot Australians build new lives in the wider community.

Its debts have risen to more than $8 million, leaving members facing a pressing question, one that many of Sydney’s older clubs are facing: rebuild, sell the farm or close.

The club has one more card to play – it is built on a large piece of prime development land in the city centre, close to a transport hub, which puts it squarely in the sights of the Mins government’s high-density development plans.

The site, which covers nearly a hectare and includes the club’s buildings, a parking lot, six adjacent houses and a large vacant lot, was rezoned last year to potentially allow for six- to seven-storey residential development on most of the site, subject to city council approval. The entire complex is conservatively valued at $70 million.

Whether to sell the land in lots or redevelop it in a way that allows residential development and the club to co-exist is now a subject of intense debate.

At the last minute, infighting between the club’s directors and members intensified. Earlier this year, a director resigned, accusing other board members of financial mismanagement, which was strongly denied. Club members filed an injunction in the Supreme Court to prevent meetings about the club’s future, fearing the board would sell the land for development at a “fire sale”.

The board has begun selling the site by advertising for expressions of interest, against the wishes of some members who want the club to remain where it is.

The board stipulated in a January notice to club members that taking no action was not an option.

“The club has had extremely low income for many years,” the board’s note read. “The club has been operating at a loss … and can only survive through the generosity of its members.”

The document details the many risks of staying at the location but is generally positive about options involving a sale.

Michael Kyriacou, the current chairman of the board, said the board has not yet decided which option to pursue.

“For the last 10 to 15 years, the community has been in a dilemma of selling or staying,” Kyriacou said.

He acknowledged that members would have to vote in favor before the property could be sold. The Herald points out that a real estate advertisement listing the plot of land as “For Sale – Expressions of Interest” could be seen as saying the property is on the market.

“It’s definitely not for sale — they should take that out of the ad, it’s a bit misleading,” Mr. Kiriakou said. “Unless someone comes with a ton of money.”

“We’re just asking the market to make a bid and compete.”

Kiriakou and The Heralda law firm representing the club’s board of directors sent a letter asking that the article not be published.

“The board had been dysfunctional for quite some time,” said former chairman Andrew Costa, who resigned from the board in February with a resignation letter that made controversial allegations against board members. “Finally, I felt I could no longer continue in my leadership role.”

The club’s audit committee released an internal report in March pointing to potential financial mismanagement, but those claims have yet to be substantiated by an external audit process.

This week, another letter signed by 70 current members alleging mismanagement and poor governance on the board was sent to regulators the Australian Securities and Investments Commission and the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission.

The board, in a statement through its lawyers, denied allegations of financial mismanagement.

“It is clear that MPs are pushing the media to report alleged governance issues (which are denied) in order to stall the expressions of interest process,” the statement said.

Asked whether an internal audit had revealed potential financial mismanagement, the board said: “Cyprus Club is unable to understand the basis for this allegation. However, Cyprus Club denies this conclusion.”

“The Cyprus club is not aware of any investigation by ASIC or the ACNC,” the statement said.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) and the ACNC declined to comment.

Some members have said they are against the current board moving forward with the sale process as they believe an outright sale would be the only serious option. They argue it would further fragment and weaken the Cypriot community, whereas a joint venture with a developer would keep the club in Stanmore and put it on a sustainable development path.

“I think Stanmore is gold. We couldn’t ask for a better place than Stanmore,” said Kay Pavlo, a member who filmed a documentary about the club’s history. “It’s so important to continue what the old guys tried to do.”

Pavlou and others said they wanted board positions to be open to elections before a decision is made on the club’s future.

The process for soliciting expressions of interest for the sale closed on Thursday. The real estate agency in charge of the process said the board will consider the submissions next week. The board must then present its options to the club’s membership.

“We’ve had plans before that were good for the club, that would bring people together,” Moucsoulis said, referring to previous joint venture talks with a developer that planned to allow residential development on much of the site in return for renovating the club and paying off debts.

“But things have come to an impasse. Now the board wants to sell. The members say it can’t be sold. We have to stay.”

Start your day with a roundup of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis, and insights. Subscribe to our morning newsletter.