Dexus’ Deborah Coakley joins the board of APN Funds Management, Investa hires Michael Hogg to manage its new build-to-rent platform and marketing wizard Ric Navarro takes on a new role with Cundall.
Deborah Coakley, executive general manager of funds management with Dexus, has joined the board of APN Funds Management Limited as an executive director. APN’s listed real estate investment trust owns a $1.1 billion portfolio of 39 properties around Australia. Coakley oversees Dexus’s $25 billion funds management business. Prior to her eight years with Dexus, she was a partner at Deloitte, and held senior roles with Qantas and Alexander Mann Solutions. Coakley is president of the Property Council’s capital markets division.
Michael Hogg will manage Indi, Investa’s recently-launched build-to-rent platform which is targeting a portfolio of 5,000-plus apartments. In the new role of general manager for build-to-rent, Hogg will lead Indi’s operations and property management functions. Hogg most recently held a senior role with co-living operator Hmlet in Singapore and also founded a proptech business in Thailand.
Cundall has hired Ric Navarro as head of clients and marketing. Navarro is spent nearly a decade leading global communications and marketing at NDY as has been ranked one of Australia’s top 10 chief marketing officers.
Michael Manikas, general manager of DLG Shape, has established The Dreaming Foundation to provide sustainable funding to Aboriginal organisations working to close the gap. Manikas is currently deputy chair of the Property Council’s diversity and inclusion committee in NSW. A trained quantity surveyor, Manikas has worked with Mirvac, Built, Australand (now Frasers property Australia), AECOM and Turner & Townsend. He was CEO of the Australian Institute of Quantity Surveyors for nearly four years and led market engagement for the Green Building Council of Australia.
Linh Pham has joined real estate fund manager EG as fund manager for its high-income sustainable office trust. Founded in 2000, EG has $4.3 billion under management on behalf of super funds and private wealth clients looking for sustainable investments with lasting social impact. Pham has held roles with EY and KPMG.
Paul Kremer has been appointed to a new three-year project with the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) in Chicago. The project will explore hybrid solutions – using mass timber and steel – for high-rise buildings. Kremer worked with XLam to establish Australia’s first cross laminated timber plant and is a non-executive director of Prefab Aus.
The International Living Future Institute has a new CEO, Lindsay Baker. Formerly the global head of sustainability and impact at WeWork, Baker was most recently a senior fellow at the Rocky Mountain Institute and a lecturer at University of California, Berkeley. She assumes the position following Amanda Sturgeon’s departure in 2020. Sturgeon spent a decade with the organisation and is now head of regenerative design with Mott MacDonald based in New South Wales.
Pip Doogan will lead CBRE’s office occupier business in Canberra. Doogan brings 18 years’ experience in the Canberra market, including her most recent role at Evolve FM, a property service provider to the federal government, where she was national leasing manager with responsibility for 23 government entities. She has also worked with Savills, the ACT Government’s Suburban Land Agency and Knight Frank.
Australian valuation firm Opteon is launching a United States brand following the recent acquisitions of the firm The William Fall Group. This followed Opteon’s move into the US market in 2019, when it acquired appraisal management company Apex Appraisal Service which manages property valuations across all 50 states. Opteon’s group CEO Chris Knight has moved to the US to provide expertise and leadership.