People on the Move – 27 October 2015
Frank Lowy retires as chairman of Scentre Group; new ACIF executive director named; Board changes at Investa; Simonds Group chief executive steps down; Architectus appoints Melbourne studio principal; promotions at Gray Puksand; CBRE expands North Sydney and agribusiness teams.
Frank Lowy will retire as chairman of Scentre Group at the company’s Annual General Meeting in May 2016. Deputy chairman Brian Schwartz will succeed Lowy as chairman. Announcing the move, Lowy said he considered it was the right time to announce his retirement from Scentre Group given it had successfully completed its establishment phase following the restructure of Westfield Group in June 2014.
Australian Construction Industry Forum (ACIF) has announced the appointment of its new executive director, following the resignation of industry stalwart Peter Barda after eight years heading up the group. James Cameron will take up the position in January 2016. Cameron will move to ACIF from the Australian Institute of Building, where he was policy and advocacy manager.
Following his move back to the US, Scott MacDonald has resigned as director of Investa Listed Funds Management. He will be replaced by alternate director Campbell Hanan as executive director.
Paul McMahon will step down as chief executive of home building company Simonds Group. McMahon originally joined Simonds in 1996. He left in 2006 and rejoined in 2007 as group general manager before becoming chief executive in 2010. The company listed on the stock exchange in November 2014.
Design firm Architectus has appointed Oliver Mayger as principal in its Melbourne studio. Mayger spent nine years at SJB, with the last three years as a director. Originally from the UK, his early career included roles with Paul Brookes Architects and Carey Jones Architects in the UK and Paterson Group Architects in Perth.
Mark Freeman has been made a partner at architecture and design company Gray Puksand. Freeman joined Gray Puksand in 2001 and was appointed as associate in 2009. He played a major role in developing the company’s education project portfolio including the design of many contemporary education facilities. The company has also appointed two senior architects, Kelly Wellington and Verdon Styles, as associates.
Toby Silk and Rob Cross have joined CBRE’s North Sydney office as negotiators in the Metropolitan Sales & Leasing division. Silk was formerly a senior sales and leasing agent on the Northern Beaches for Raine & Horne Commercial and Cross was most recently manager of commercial leasing for Bayleys Real Estate in Auckland.
Also in North Sydney, CBRE’s Development Site Sales team has been expanded, with Tao Shi recruited as a foreign capital investment manager and Daini Phillips as a senior analyst. Shi was formerly sales manager at Arissa Property Group. At CBRE, he will also work within the Asian Private Client Group, which has been bolstered by the recruitment of Teejay Seo. Phillips has spent 10 years at Goodman, most recently as an assistant fund manager.
CBRE has also announced an expansion of its Pacific Agribusiness team with seven brokers, analysts and valuers appointed in Queensland, NSW, Victoria and New Zealand. In Queensland, senior manager Tom Warriner joins CBRE from Colliers Internationals’ Rural and Agribusiness team. Other new Queensland hires include Nick Houston and Victoria Ross, who have both joined as assistant valuers, and Camilla Glasser as an agribusiness analyst assisting the transactions team. In NSW, Richie Inglis has moved from Hassad Australia, a company wholly owned by the state of Qatar. Other new appointments include James Pike as an assistant valuer in Victoria and Keiran Smith as an agribusiness analyst in New Zealand.
Design practice Hayball has appointed David Tordoff as studio director in its Sydney office. Tordoff has extensive experience across Australia and the UK, predominantly in the areas of multi-unit residential and education, in addition to delivering projects in the hospitality and commercial sectors.