Property development

Since becoming Victoria’s first registered affordable housing association in 2005, Haven has experienced remarkable growth.

We have evolved from a small scale, not-for-profit Company managing a modest portfolio of Office of Housing properties to an independent, forward thinking community-based organisation managing sophisticated housing developments and a $106 M property portfolio, with a further $123 M of housing stock under development.

Left: One of Haven’s flagship developments

 

A parallel, but critical shift in the way we do business has come with this transformation.

Today, our corporate activities and capital investment are driven as much by commercial principles as our housing programs and support services are driven by a commitment to social equity – because making good business decisions means we can invest much, much more into housing vulnerable and homeless Victorians.

Left: The Minister for Housing Wendy Lovell and the Member for Doncaster Mary Wooldridge marvel at the views with incoming tenants, the Page family.

Since 2005, Haven has:

• Added an average of 130 units a year to our housing portfolio; growth driven largely by the Federal Government’s $1.26 billion ‘Nation Building’ investment in social housing in Victoria
• Invested heavily in our project management  expertise to make the transition from basic house and land packages and modest unit developments  to large scale, multi-lot subdivisions  and contemporary, high-rise apartment buildings
• Established many rewarding partnerships with local councils, private developers, consultants, contractors and construction partners to initiate and deliver complex housing projects on budget and on time.

Our property team continues to investigate and buy into astute opportunities to expand our core business – the acquisition of social housing stock - with outstanding results.

Left: Official opening of 95-99 Tram Road, Doncaster on August 11, 2011

 

 

 

By June 2011, we were managing more than 1000 residential properties throughout Victoria. The recent completion of several major projects and the staged development of others will see a further 500 properties come on line in the near future. These projects include:

• A 238-lot residential subdivision in Carrum Downs, of which 60 lots will be retained by Haven and the remainder onsold. Stage one was released to the market recently.
• A $39.7M architecturally designed apartment complex in Tram Road, Doncaster. This Nation Building project features 98 1-3BR apartments.
• Multi-storey apartment complexes in North Essendon, Bendigo and Boronia, offering 85 apartments across the three sites.

“What sets us apart from many community housing associations – and one of the things we are good at - is that we don’t limit ourselves to one form of housing development, we have a broad focus. When we sit down with a joint venture partner, it’s about launching a proposition on commercial terms, and we bring with us extensive networks and an exemplary reputation in the development world.”

Mario Roccisano, Chief Development Officer