People on the Move
Leonie Freeman will lead the Property Council in New Zealand, while Dennis Vertzayias joins Colliers International and Crone Architects bolsters its senior team.
Leonie Freeman (Pictured left) has been appointed chief executive officer of the Property Council New Zealand. Freeman has held top positions in both the public and private sector. She created what is now realestate.co.nz, one of the first major commercial websites launched in New Zealand. She ran her own residential property management business, was general manager of asset development for Housing New Zealand and sat on the board of NZX-listed company Goodman Property Trust. Most recently, Freeman has led an independent philanthropic initiative to solve Auckland’s housing crisis. Freeman replaces Connal Townsend, who will officially retire in December after serving as Property Council’s CEO for almost 15 years.
Dennis Vertzayias has joined Colliers International as its national director and head of residential NSW project marketing. Vertzayias has been in the industry for three decades, overseeing a pipeline of $7 billion in new projects across NSW and QLD. Most recently, Vertzayias was associate director with McGrath Projects.
Amy Kean has been promoted to director of the energy infrastructure and emerging technologies branch at the NSW Department of Planning and Environment. Kean was appointed Australia’s first renewable energy advocate for the department in 2013.
Crone Architects has made several changes to its senior team. Ashley Dennis has been appointed principal for design and architecture. Dennis has been with the firm for nearly a decade, working on significant civic developments including the
Orange Regional Museum, awarded the prestigious Sulman Medal NSW in 2017 for Public Architecture. Meanwhile, Paul Brace joins the firm as principal for interior design, moving across from FJMT, where he was an associate. Martin Stacey, formerly a project director with Ridley, has been appointed associate director of technical design delivery.
Jon McConkey has been promoted to director of corporate and enterprise at Domain Group. Since joining Domain 11 years ago as an account manager, McConkey has since risen up the ranks. His most recent role was sales director for NSW and ACT. Taking over from David Choi, McConkey will be responsible for managing relationships with corporate partners for Domain’s residential and enterprise divisions.