Brisbane, 06 February 2015 – CBRE Residential Projects has further strengthened its market leading Brisbane team with the appointment of former Urbis National Residential Director Jon Rivera.
In his new CBRE Project Director role, Mr Rivera will be responsible for managing the off the plan marketing and sales of Brisbane’s most exciting residential and mixed-use developments.
During 2014, CBRE sold more than 5,000 apartments off the plan along the Eastern Seaboard, including almost $500 million in Brisbane units. The Brisbane team is currently preparing to launch multiple new projects in the CBD, Kangaroo Point, South Brisbane, West End, Coorparoo and Spring Hill in the first half of 2015.
Paul Barratt, Managing Director of CBRE’s Brisbane Residential Projects division, said strong business growth had been a key driver behind the appointment of Mr Rivera, who is regarded as one of the pre-eminent advisors in the residential property development industry across Australia and Asia.
“Over the past 15 years Jon has worked with some of Australia’s largest developers, as well as all levels of government, to facilitate city changing projects,” Mr Barratt said.
“His market insight is highly regarded and will assist us in providing strategic advice to developers in all facets of the residential market to maximise value and project manage new apartment projects.”
Mr Rivera’s appointment coincides with continued strong growth in the Brisbane residential sector.
Mr Barratt said interstate investors were continuing to capitalise on the significant price differential between Brisbane and the other Eastern Seaboard metropolitan markets. The underlying strength of the Queensland economy was meanwhile stimulating high levels of first homebuyer and upgrade activity, Mr Barratt noted.
“We expect to see a flight to quality in 2015, with a number of new projects in prime locations seeking to cater to a growing prestige market in the $2m+ price category. While there will be a higher level of supply in the market the stark reality is that Brisbane has been grossly undersupplied for the past seven years, as reflected in extraordinarily high residential yields, low vacancy rates and a firming of values,” Mr Barratt said, adding that the infrastructure activity accompanying projects such as the Queen’s Wharf redevelopment would further stimulate demand for CBD and inner city apartments.
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