FROM Bendigo to Barangaroo, Macquarie Park to Manning, the property industry’s top performers and innovators across the country were recognised at the inaugural Australian Property Institute’s National Excellence In Property Awards for 2017.
For the first time in the API’s 91-year history, the annual Excellence In Property Awards was been transformed into a national competition, held in Melbourne on Friday night.
Lendlease’s Barangaroo South development emerged with two gongs, winning the OC Energy Property Development Award and the Ray White Commercial Environmental Development Award.
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API CEO Mike Zissler said Barangaroo South is considered by many to be the most significant recent addition to Sydney’s global economic status.
“Barangaroo South has battled planning delays, campaigns against it and uncertain economic times, and the judges were unanimous in their opinions that it is an incredibly vital people space loved by Sydneysiders,” he said.
The area in the Western corridor of Sydney’s CBD accommodates 23,000 office workers, 1,500, an international six-star hotel and more than 80 bars, restaurants and retailers; and aims to be Australia’s first large scale carbon neutral precinct.
“What particularly impressed the judges was that the sustainability initiatives were not ‘bolted on’ they were derived from the wider Lend Lease vision of social, environmental and design excellence and were part of the desired property outcome at project inception,” Zissler said.
The judges considered Barangaroo South to have broken new ground in considering the effects of climate change on investment decisions, and offering lessons for the property industry in carbon neutral precincts, reducing embodied carbon in buildings, precinct approach to energy provision and consumption, water positive precinct, construction innovation, and long-term waste management to fulfil the aim of zero water to landfill in operation.
Development Victoria won Australian Property Journal Heritage Property Award for its Palais Theatre Project, which was managed by Beth Hackett.
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“Effectively re-lifting a 90-year-old listed Melbourne icon is a major challenge in itself, but to do so while the theatre continued to operate took this challenge to a new level,” Zissler said.
The City of Perth received the Land Use Victoria Local Government Property Award for the City of Perth Library, which became the first major civic building to be constructed in the city in almost four decades.
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The judges considered the inviting exterior to be seamlessly complimentary to the Library’s setting in the integrated Cathedral Square. It comprises more than 3,500 sim over seven floors, with a history centre, reading rooms and audio-visual multi-function rooms along with virtual and digital resources.
Funds manager CorVal took home the Joe Curlewis Property Trust Award, having acquired 36 properties with a value in excess of $1.8 billion since establishment in 2009, and achieved an average 19% per annum after fees across their investments.
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Lendlease was not alone, Opteon also had two winners, CEO Chris Knight won the Pinnacle PR Property Industry Award, recognised for his contribution to the industry and Western Australia associate director Claire Robinson won the ISPT Young Achiever of the Year Award.
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Zissler said the National EIPAs recognise innovation and achievement across the entire industry, through individuals, group and sector projects.
“Finalists included some of the industry’s biggest and most respected names, and covered the length and breadth of Australia – from Bendigo to Barangaroo and Macquarie Park to Manning,” he said.
“The judging panel comprised distinguished industry leaders from around Australia who had the task of critically assessing the strong and expanded fields of entries in their individual categories.
“The API’s broad membership base and the organisation’s reputation for professionalism, integrity and education have given the National EIPA the standing an Awards event encompassing the broad spectrum of Australia’s property industry deserves,”
Australian Property Journal