Adrian Harrington and Jennifer Cunich will chair NHFIC and AHURI, while Goodman Group and Investa make key sustainability appointments and Piper Alderman appoints two new real estate partners.
Federal minister for housing Michael Sukkar has appointed Charter Hall’s head of capital and product development, Adrian Harrington, as chair and board member of the National Housing Finance and Investment Corporation (NHFIC). Harrington takes over from Brendan Crotty, who steps down after three years. Kelvin Ryan and Jane Hewitt have also been appointed NHFIC board members. Harrington and Ryan will take up five-year terms and Hewitt a three-year term. NHFIC is focused on improving housing outcomes, especially for first home buyers and single parents, and increasing the supply of affordable and social housing. Harrington, who was head of research for the Property Council in the 1990s, has been a director of the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute for five years and chair for two, but will step down from AHURI’s board. Ryan is a former CEO of various major housing developers including Simonds Group and BGC Residential. Hewitt has nearly three decades of experience in real estate development and asset management, founding UniLodge in 1996, and is currently a non-executive director at Mirvac.
Jennifer Cunich takes on the role of independent chairperson and director of AHURI. Cunich is a former non-executive director of the Victorian Planning Authority, CEO of the Australian Institute of Architects and executive director of the Property Council in Victoria. She has been on AHURI’s board since 2019. Alexandra Waldren, national director of industry policy at Master Builders Australia, has been appointed independent director. Waldren is currently the chair of Livable Housing Australia. Both will commence four-year terms in mid-July. David Cant has also stepped down from AHURI’s board.
Goodman Group has appointed Emma McMahon head of sustainability. McMahon was with CBRE for nearly eight years, the last six as national director of sustainability. She also spent a couple of years with Norman Disney & Young working on Green Star projects.
Margot Black has joined Investa as general manager for corporate sustainability, after nearly six years leading sustainability initiatives at Charter Hall. She has also held social sustainability and community development roles with Lendlease and Stockland. Black replaces Nina James, who is now head of ESG for Blackstone in Asia Pacific.
Piper Alderman has announced 20 lawyer promotions, including two new partners in the national real estate team. Carlyna Chhen, based in Melbourne, joined the firm in June 2018 as special counsel, specialising in commercial property transactions and agribusiness. She acts for a broad range of clients in the public and private sectors. Jonathan Dodd, based in Adelaide, started his career with Piper Alderman in 2006 and works with substantial retailers on a range of contractual and property issues. Other senior appointments in the real estate team include Samantha Gou as special counsel and Lauren Abbott as senior associate. Piper Alderman now has 350 employees in Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney.
Supply chain and property specialist TMX has appointed Adam McDonald as managing director of its Australia and New Zealand operations. Since joining TMX in 2015, McDonald has established the business’ operations in New South Wales and Queensland. In his most recent role, as executive director of project services, Adam led a team of 50-plus construction project managers delivering advanced and complex automated distribution centres across the region. McDonald’s previous experience includes time with Jacobs and Sinclair Knight Merz. He will be based in Sydney.
Quantity surveying firm Rider Levett Bucknall as promoted Mark Brasher and Michael Mihailou as associates. The new appointments follow Stephen Mee stepping into the role of managing director in New South Wales in February. Brasher joined RLB in 2007 as an assistant surveyor and has since worked on major projects including Barangaroo’s towers in Sydney. Mihailou has been with RLB for nearly a decade and is project lead on the $1.3 billion Sydney Metro Martin Place station development. RLB has a team of 500 people across Australia and New Zealand.
Savills Australia has expanded its occupier services offering with a new strategic supply chain hire, associate Chris Stevenson. Based in Sydney, Stevenson has more than 25 years’ experience in Australia, New Zealand, Asia, USA and Europe across a range of industries. Stevenson will work with Savills director of supply chain, Bob Quirk.
Knight Frank’s Perth office has entered into a partnership with prestige residential property agency, Mack Hall Real Estate. The partnership, branded ‘Mack Hall in Association with Knight Frank’, will be overseen by Knight Frank partner and head of Western Australia Craig Dawson.
Claire Hains has joined m3property as director in its Melbourne residential development team. Hains was previously with JLL for 12 years in valuation advisory. Her expertise covers valuations of residential, including high rise and boutique apartments, mixed use and townhouse projects across Melbourne.
Finally, in sad news, renewable energy champion Chloe Munro AO passed away last week. Munro was the inaugural chair of the federal government’s Clean Energy Regulator, chair of the solar division of Impact investment Group, and worked alongside former chief scientist Dr Alan Finkel on the Independent Review into the Future Security of the National Electricity Market. In 2018, Munro was made an Officer of the Order of Australia for her leadership in renewable energy, water and climate change process and reform.