Posts in category: Client News

Brisbane developer Majella Property Developments is progressing with its plans to transform Woolloongabba’s historic Broadway Hotel and surrounds into a world class residential, commercial and food and dining destination with the lodging of its development application with the Brisbane City Council.

The Broadway Hotel will be brought back to life and be the historical centrepiece of the $260million development on the 3420 sqm site, encompassing 44 Balaclava Street and 85 & 93 Logan Road, Woolloongabba.

The development application reveals the site will feature a multi-level apartment tower featuring a total of 262 apartments across one, two, three and four bedroom configurations. The Broadway site will also include a three-level commercial and retail podium which will incorporate the heritage-listed hotel and 40 commercial sites.

A total of 379 car parking spaces will be provided along with 113 bike parks across three basement levels of the tower.

The hotel which was completed in 1890 was designed by prominent architectural firm John Hall & Son. It was extensively damaged by fire in 2010.

Majella Group founder Professor Frank Monsour said, “Broadway will redefine this important precinct in Woolloongabba with heritage values central to the design.

“We are thrilled to be able to bring the Broadway Hotel back to life and develop a vibrant commercial precinct with food and dining central to the experience.

“The Broadway residential tower will also incorporate generous rooftop facilities including entertaining and meeting areas, pools and a spa. Residents will have plenty of green space on the podium level and all will have access to some of the most magnificent views of Brisbane.

“We’re pleased to be bringing innovations to the Broadway development including centralised recycling, cutting edge Bloomframe windows and the largest automated car parking system in Australia.”


Majella Property Developments will use some of the development profits from the apartment tower to restore the hotel which otherwise has been deemed to be economically unviable as a restoration project on its own due to the extensive damage suffered.

Majella has based its plans for the precinct on a laneways concept with the Broadway’s Gothic appeal influencing the style along with elements from New York and Melbourne.

Depending on approval timing construction is expected to start late in 2017 and be completed in 2019.

Broadway is designed by award-winning architect Elizabeth Anderson of Hayes Anderson Lynch Architects.

Majella Property Developments last year completed its 91-apartment Radius Apartments development at O’Keefe Street in Woolloongabba, which also incorporates Oaks Woolloongabba serviced accommodation.

Australia’s leading personal budgeting provider MyBudget has appointed experienced US fintech executive Jason Dell to the position of Chief Technology Officer (CTO) as the company embarks on a new technology and data driven customer engagement strategy.

In a major coup for the Adelaide-based company, Mr Dell, who has qualifications from MIT Sloan School of Management, has relocated from Atlanta, Georgia, to MyBudget’s head office to take up the position.

Prior to joining MyBudget, Mr Dell was Global Head of Product for Kabbage (www.kabbage.com), one of the world’s leading small business lenders with a valuation of more than $US1 billion, where he was responsible for a number of product and customer driven innovations.

In addition to Kabbage, he has held a variety of roles that have helped him develop a broad base of knowledge that accelerates cross-market application of technology.

Mr Dell said the role would provide a range of exciting opportunities and challenges.

“MyBudget is an exciting business on the cusp of a major expansion, helping to build the infrastructure and interfaces that underpin that growth was an opportunity I couldn’t resist,” he said.

“Our clients are increasingly adopting and utilising new technologies and we need to make sure we have a digital offering that is able to meet them when and where they want to engage with us.

“Existing and emerging fintech provides us with an incredible opportunity to not only improve the customer engagement process but use data gathered to refine and develop our services to ensure we remain true to our mission of helping people live the life they want free from money worries.”

MyBudget founder Tammy Barton said the company had worked hard to secure a CTO with international experience and the capability to build new customer-focussed platforms and systems.

“We want to attract the very best talent in the IT industry, the top 1%, and to do that we need to have a leader that is internationally-recognised,” she said.

“We want to build a team around Jason that has the skills to take us to the next level and help us achieve our mission of improving the financial health of Australians.”

“Like all business, technology will play an increasingly important role in our customer journey and Jason has the experience to ensure we remain at the forefront of the industry for many years to come.”

Earlier this year MyBudget, launched its first app for existing clients. The App provides clients fast, secure and easy mobile access to their budget and personal finances and the ability to make changes on the go.

The App gives users the ability to:

-View and access account balances
-View any upcoming activity such as bill payments
-View historic changes and activity within their budget
-Secure web messaging
-The ability to take a photo of bills and send it to MyBudget or attach a document from their device.

ABOUT MYBUDGET
MyBudget is dedicated to helping people live the life they want free from money worries. MyBudget is recognised as Australia’s leading provider of personal budgeting services. Since being founded by Tammy Barton in 1999, the company has helped over 65,000 Australians get on the path to financial success.

PROPERTY services group Oliver Hume has been appointed as the exclusive sales and marketing agent for Defence Housing Australia’s (DHA) 1,151-lot Breezes Muirhead development in Darwin, the first time the company has taken on a project in the Northern Territory.

 The appointment caps a stellar year for Oliver Hume with the company reporting a record number of sales across its existing operations up and down the east coast and the consolidation of its pipeline with a number of major new appointments.

 The award-winning Breezes development is located in the highly sought-after Darwin suburb of Muirhead. This community will feature 1,151 lots, with DHA building 329 properties for Defence members and their families. The remaining land lots will be sold to the public.

 Oliver Hume Queensland Joint Managing Director Brinton Keath said the appointment was a significant milestone for the company, marking the first time it had been appointed to a project in the Northern Territory.

“We are delighted DHA has put their faith in us to complete the sales program at Breezes Muirhead and as a business, we are thrilled to be expanding our footprint to a new region,” he said.

Oliver Hume has appointed Darwin local Lenny Holt as Sales Manager at Breezes. Mr Holt will be based in the Breezes Land Sales Centre within the community.

Mr Keath said it was an opportune time to be entering the Darwin market after a period of volatility for the local property market.

“The impact of the resources downturn and a lack of confidence in the government has resulted in a pretty rocky market over the last few years,” he said. “We think with a stable government and the emergence of new economic drivers the local market will continue to stabilise over coming months.”

Oliver Hume Chief Operating Officer Julian Coppini said the appointment was in line with the company’s goal to expand its geographic footprint while consolidating its dominance of core markets in Melbourne and South East Queensland.

“The appointment caps a strong finish for the year where we achieved numerous records across the business with total sales volume up more than 50% on the year before,” he said.

“We have a built a strong team and a comprehensive service offering to our clients encompassing research, marketing and strategic product planning services which can be applied to just about any project in the country.”

The strong performance this year reflects the expansion of the company’s offering in recent years to include project advisory and consultancy, property fund development, project land and apartment sales, asset management, corporate advisory and development site sales and acquisition.

“The diversification of the Oliver Hume business across all facets of development – communities, apartments, townhouses and house and land – gives us access to unparalleled insights into the market and underpins a strong value proposition for our partners,” Mr Coppini said.

Mr Coppini said the company had built the capacity and expertise to offer partners a comprehensive ‘whole of life’ service for projects commencing from site acquisition through to settlement services.

The company has secured a number of other major new appointments this year including a high profile role with Places Victoria and a major masterplanned community at Walloon in the western growth corridor of Brisbane.

Oliver Hume’s existing clients include some of country’s most established developers including Villawood Properties, Amex Corp, ID LAND, Pask Group and ISPT Super Fund.

Oliver Hume Director Paul Ciprian said the appointments reflected the company’s ability to provide developers with a competitive edge in the development, marketing and sale of new residential communities.

“While some segments of the property market are displaying signs of stress, the outer suburban land and communities market is still experiencing strong demand from a diversified base of first and second home buyers and investors,” he said.

Mr Ciprian said developers competing for market share would ensure prices remained affordable for buyers but not to the extent it would impact developers’ profit margins.

“It is a good market where there is something for everyone,” he said.

Australian music sensation Guy Sebastian has joined leading low-cost airline AirAsia as its ambassador for Australia.

Guy was introduced last night at a VIP event at Sydney’s Museum of Contemporary Art, which was attended by music and aviation industry representatives, media, AirAsia trade partners together with AirAsia X Group CEO Datuk Kamarudin Meranun and Malaysia AirAsia X CEO Benyamin Ismail.

Guy played a set of his songs to an enthusiastic crowd and also exhibited a number of his photographs which were sold in a silent auction along with AirAsia flights to raise money for The Sebastian Foundation.

AirAsia X Group CEO Datuk Kamarudin Meranun said, “It’s great to be back in Australia promoting artists again. Guy is such a huge talent and we are thrilled to have him onboard. Music and entertainment are a natural fit for AirAsia and he joins other entertainers and celebrities to promote our award-winning service. Beyond that, Guy also embodies AirAsia’s values and ideals with his support of the community through his charity work.”

Guy will promote AirAsia’s brand, help create some engaging content as well as showcase some of his favourite Asian destinations.

Guy’s latest single Candle has been released ahead of a forthcoming album and as he judges another season of the hit talent show “X Factor Australia”.

Guy Sebastian said, “I’m excited to be part of the AirAsia team as the official ambassador of the airline. As a Malaysian-born Australian, who travels a great deal for my music, there are many aspects of AirAsia that I admire. I love the story of how Tony Fernandes (who my Dad often gets mistaken for!) started the company and grew it to where it is today, but most of all I love the heart behind it. Tony and the team do a great deal of charitable acts and the culture within the company is one where philanthropy is of a high priority. I look forward to this partnership and can’t wait to share some of the exciting things we have in store.”

Guy was born in Malaysia before arriving in Australia at the age of six and now calls Sydney home with his wife Jules and children Hudson and Archer.

Over the course of his career, he has received 25 ARIA (Australian Recording Industry Association) nominations including Single of the Year, Highest Selling Album, Best Male Artist and Best Pop Artist. He won the ARIA award for the Highest Selling Single in 2004 for “Angels Brought Me Here”. With 42 platinum and three gold certifications and a combined album and single sales of nearly four million in Australia, Guy is known as one of Australia’s most successful artists.

Last year, Guy represented Australia in the Eurovision contest and was placed fifth.

AirAsia X CEO Benyamin Ismail said, ”Guy is a welcome addition to our team in Australia. We’ve had a great response to the introduction this year of Australian cabin crew and we will continue to innovate to give our guests the best experience possible.”

From Australia, AirAsia X flies daily to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, from Perth (14 flights per week) Sydney (17 flights per week), Melbourne (18 flights per week), Gold Coast (11 flights per week) and Auckland (7 flights per week).

AirAsia Indonesia flies up to four times daily to Denpasar, Bali from Perth and four times weekly from Darwin.