Ross W. Robertson hands the reins of Perron Group to Adam Irving, AMP Capital announces a new brand name, Colliers appoints a national build-to-rent team and JLL’s Andrew Balzanelli steps down.
After more than 40 years with Perron Group, managing director and CEO Ross W. Robertson is retiring and will hand the reins to Adam Irving on 1 July 2022. Irving joined Perron Group in October 2019 as the company’s first chief financial officer. He grew up in Western Australia, and has held roles with JLL, GE, Westpac and Automotive Holdings Group in London, Sydney and Perth. Robertson became the group’s chief financial officer in 1995, then CEO and a director in 2011. He was appointed managing director in December 2018 a month after Stan Perron AC passed away. Perron was inducted into the Property Hall of Fame in 2013.
In a significant step towards its demerger from AMP Limited, AMP Capital has announced a new brand name. The new business will be called Collimate Capital when it lists on the Australian Securities Exchange in the second half of this year. Collimate is a scientific term that means to make rays of light perfectly parallel and is a metaphor for alignment, clarity and precision. AMP Capital chief executive officer Shawn Johnson, who joined last year, says Collimate Capital will “provide a greater level of independence, stability and accountability”. Patrick Snowball was announced as chairman designate and Andrew Fay as deputy chairman designate of the demerged business in October. Nadine Lennie was appointed chief financial officer in January, and will be joining the business in April 2022.
Following 13 years as managing director of JLL in the ACT, Andrew Balzanelli will pass the baton to JLL’s head of sales and investments, Tim Mutton. Balzanelli, who celebrated his 30-year anniversary with JLL in 2018, will move his focus back to his role as ACT head of office leasing and will take on an expanded responsibility for land and development site sales. During his tenure, Balzanelli grew JLL’s ACT presence three-fold to more than 300 people. Mutton joined JLL in 2018 and will continue in his current role in addition to his responsibility as managing director.
Colliers is backing the build-to-rent boom with new national team. Based in Melbourne, Colliers’ BTR team will be led by national directors Robert Papaleo and Jozef Dickinson, who will work with dedicated BTR experts in every state market. Colliers says the BTR sector accounts for an increasing share of Melbourne’s major residential development site market, especially in the city fringe precincts where it has grown from $63 million, or 2% of total sales value, in 2018 to just over $300 million – 15% of total residential development sales – in 2021.
Colliers also has a new managing director for retail capital markets in Asia Pacific. Lachlan MacGillivray has taken on the new position. He has led the retail investment services team in Australia for the past 11 years. According to Colliers, around $12.8 billion was invested in Australian retail in 2021 and Colliers was responsible for 71% of total transactions valued at greater than $200 million.
The Western Australian Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage has appointed Anthony Kannis as the new director general. Kannis has held senior roles with Department of Treasury and WA Police, and, for the last four-and-a-half-years, as the managing director of METRONET. Ashley Vincent will take on the role as acting managing director of METRONET, following work on the Swan River Crossings Project with Main Roads WA.
Boutique Perth law firm Stork Davies has added senior lawyer Ben McPherson to its roster. McPherson was previously a senior associate at Fletcher Law and has over 11 years’ experience practising in general commercial law, in both Australia and New Zealand. He will join Stork Davies as special counsel. His appointment follows on the heels of the recent promotion of Evangeline Skene to senior associate, and last year’s addition of ex-Sparke Helmore lawyer Travis Colli to the firm. The firm’s roster shake-up coincides with an imminent move by the firm to newly fitted-out premises at 109 St Georges Terrace.
Top Spring Australia has bolstered its development team capacity. Former Deloitte PDS director Jeff Curnow now heads up the company’s development and acquisition team as development director, having worked as a consultant to Top Spring Australia for many years. Arian Galanis joins the development management team as the company’s newest development manager following roles with The GPT Group and Mirvac.
Property Industry Foundation has appointed Lorraine Dupree to its board of advisors. It is 26 years since Dupree began her work with homeless and at-risk young people more than 26 years ago. Today, as executive director of Queensland Youth Housing Coalition (QYHC) Dupree has joined the Foundation’s board of advisors to supports its work combatting Queensland’s youth homelessness crisis. The Foundation has distributed nearly $30 million to youth homelessness causes over 25 years.
Raine & Horne has recruited Celeste Kopps as a network manager to support its rapidly expanding office network in NSW. Kopps will support Raine & Horne’s rapidly expanding office networks in the Hunter, Illawarra, St George, Inner West, Northwest and Southwest of Sydney.
Ethos Urban has appointed Matthew Di Maggio as principal planner. With seven-plus years of experience in statutory planning, Maggio was previously a senior planner with Sydney’s Inner West Council.