News

October 25, 2020 | IN Media Release and News | BY Holly Brennan | 4 min read

Q: You’ve been with AVID for the past eight years but weren’t always in development, you originally started with AVID in finance. Can you tell us a little about your career progression and what sparked your interest in the development side of the business?
A: My prior work experience was in Corporate Finance having worked with Macquarie Bank and Deloitte in various investment banking and merges and acquisitions roles – but I was lucky enough to still work within property, albeit not directly in development.

I accepted the role of State Finance Manager Queensland with Investa Land (now AVID Property Group) nearly eight years ago… although it wasn’t long before I started to gravitate to the development side of the ledger. It was definitely the tangible nature of development that got me excited and ultimately lured me across.

Q: Your new role as Project Director Queensland is a newly created role to cater to the ever-expanding Queensland portfolio – what do you hope to bring to the role?
A: Hopefully, I can provide some guidance and strategic oversight to assist the AVID team. My background working on large scale, complex projects that incorporate financial, transactional and development related issues nationally and internationally will assist me in helping the teams drive delivery outcomes that ensure we continue to outperform our buyers (both past and future) and shareholders expectations.

Q: Where do you think the development industry will be five years from now?
A: Tough question! I’d be shocked if asked the question 12 months ago anybody got it right looking forward! If COVID-19 has taught us anything, it’s that we need to be agile and adapt to changing circumstances – often rapidly.

Clearly as a developer I’m an eternal optimist. The fundamentals remain strong – I believe we will continue to see growth in the South East Queensland residential sector over the next five years.

Q: How do you think the sudden changes to working from home arrangements will influence a buyer’s decision of where to live?
Flexible working arrangements have become the norm and will in-turn influence buyers’ decisions when looking at their next home – both the brick and mortar, and locational attributes. Our communities are already experiencing increased enquiries and sales from both intra-and interstate buyers looking at SEQ as a relatively safe region offering an enviable and affordable lifestyle.

Although the lifestyle and affordability in SEQ have been well known for some time, the ability to live in one city and work somewhere else is now a reality. This shift has seen a great opportunity emerge for developers to innovate and create more interesting communities – rethinking open space networks and retail and entertainment options, as well as creating more flexible and adaptable homes, including more substantial office setups, living and open space zones.

Q: Creating communities is at the heart of everything AVID does, why is this so important?
A: I believe loving where you live is so important to personal happiness. At AVID, we invest so much time and effort into scrutinizing every development application, every land release, the design of every park, and every marketing campaign to ensure every resident within an AVID community lives in an environment that has their best interests at heart. I get such a kick out of hearing how people love where they live.

Meaningful community development will continue to be crucial in projects of all sizes. Peoples innate desire to connect with others is evident now more so than ever and we, as developers, need to ensure we are providing tangible, sustainable community development platforms that not only provide opportunities to connect, but to engrain social policies and frameworks within communities. We want to create a legacy that our residents are proud of long after we sell the final block of land or home – that’s the AVID way!

Q: Has there been someone or something that has inspired you in your career?
A: I have been so lucky to work with some very experienced and talented people in my career – but none have had a greater impact on me then my current boss Bruce Harper. Bruce’s experience, knowledge, passion and willingness to impart his knowledge on others has had a profound impact on my career – I hope to emulate this in my role leading the QLD Development team.