About Me

With over 25 years' legal experience, I am a senior partner in our Asia-Pacific team, head of the Real Estate practice in Australia/Asia and Global Co-Head of Real Estate.

My passion for real estate and the real estate industry is evident in my dealings with colleagues, clients, peers, intermediaries and industry leaders. I am fortunate to and enjoy working with a wide range of clients on all kinds of exciting transactions and legal issues involving property and infrastructure development. I thrive on applying my commercial knowledge and providing solutions to different practical and legal problems for all types of businesses.

Whether you're a multinational looking to set up new premises or a new HQ in Australia or relocating to new or additional premises; a tech or renewable energy company needing specialised sites with particular attributes; a real estate developer seeking to secure what it needs to deliver its project to market; a commercial or industrial landlord (or asset manager) with multiple sites and numerous tenants; a hotel chain or investor, or F&B retailer, managing a property portfolio; an agribusiness looking to expand or consolidate its rural land holdings and water rights; or an international investor new to the market and unsure of Australia's complex investment rules and requirements, my team and I can certainly help.

But it's not all about buying and selling – matters involving leasing, multi-staged or mixed-use subdivisions, strata and titling requirements, easement rights, and project delivery arrangements also regularly cross my desk. I'm often involved in corporate and finance transactions (working closely with my colleagues in Sydney and from our other offices globally and across Asia-Pacific) – such as mergers and acquisitions, and joint ventures – advising on the property elements of those deals.

It's hard to think of any business which does not have a physical presence, location or physical footprint somewhere. Even cloud based businesses rely on data centres which themselves have unique property specifications and requirements (and we also have industry expertise involving data centres).

The Asia-Pacific region, with all its economic growth, is really a dynamic place to be working in the area of real estate/property and infrastructure development. It's great to be a part of it – helping so many clients grow, expand and transform their businesses in this region.
Experience
  • Acting for McDonald's with Stockland Residential (A-REIT) as developer in relation to a mixed use development comprising a 2-level McDonald's restaurant, ground level retail shops and 2 separate high rise residential towers (350 apartments). The project delivery agreement dealt with the development application and acceptable development consent process; protocols regarding environmental, heritage, relics and compulsory acquisition items (including those arising in relation to the proposed light rail project in Parramatta CBD); cost sharing on development contributions including s94 contributions, State infrastructure contributions and affordable housing contributions; staged construction protocols/requirements; protocols/requirements to minimise impacts on McDonald's operations from its new restaurant and associated facilities (once completed) during ongoing works to the residential component; negotiating the proposed subdivision and titling arrangements for the development, including agreed concepts relating to the building management statement, building operational matters and easements; and the marketing/sale of 'off-the-plan' residential units and retail shops.
  • Acting for a data centre developer in the acquisition, construction and delivery of 3 sites involving call option deeds with development rights, subdivision and titling arrangements;, the grant of a long term leasehold estate arising from delays in obtaining subdivision approval; the grant of head leases between the land owner and operating entities and the grant of various subleases from the operating entity. I also coordinated the real estate legal aspects with our corporate team having regard to the requirements of the 'data centre services agreements' with NSW State Government, and with the Commonwealth Government
  • Acting on the leasing, subleasing, variations and surrenders of leasehold interests for a major financial institution in Australia, including the lease of its Australian headquarters in Sydney CBD and commercial offices in NSW and Victoria
  • Acting for the freehold owner of 1 York Street, Sydney involving the surrender and regrant of a long term head lease, granted concurrent to an existing long term (head) sublease. The new head lease combined triple net and ground lease provisions, including provisions relating to social covenants; prohibited tenants; tailored assignment/subletting provisions; redevelopment rights; rights of refusal and pre-emptive rights; reservation of rights; combination of triple net and ground lease provisions, alternative damage and destruction scenarios and application of insurance monies between the landlord, tenant and tenant's lenders. The transactions included complex stamp duty and FIRB issues
  • Acting for major Australian landlords to draft and negotiate complex agreements for lease and leases for purpose-built and existing warehouses, distribution and logistics facilities
Education

Studied

  • Macquarie University, LLB, Law
  • Macquarie University, Bachelor of Economics (majoring in accounting)

Admissions

  • Law Society of New South Wales, Australia in 1997
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