Trident Real Estate Capital was engaged to provide project management and superintendent services for Primrose Co, a South Sydney development site with 3,000 square meters of net leasable area.

The team acknowledged the need to add value to the site during both the pre-construction and the construction stages. Immediate challenges involved both the size of the project and the economic conditions. Sydney’s insatiable demand for new housing had resulted in demand for construction services being at an all time high. Many of the reputable builders had been contracted and were operating at their peak capacity for the next 12-18 months. We assisted our client by leveraging our network and making introductions to a select pool of high-end builders who committed to the tender process.

As principal investors ourselves, we are very aware of the elemental costs of buildings. In negotiating the tender documents on behalf of our client, we discovered that certain trades and services – plumbing, tiling, concrete and formwork – had the potential to be more competitively priced. In addition, we identified various value engineering initiatives including changes to the structural and architectural design of the building, which resulted in further cost savings for our client.

Given our positive impact on the Project, the client awarded Trident Real Estate Capital the responsibility of negotiating the contract documents. Building contracts can be particularly daunting and complicated. Working off the AS4902-2000, Design and Construct Contract, as a starting point, we negotiated on our client’s behalf, leveraging our extensive experience in contract review and administration, to achieve a developer-friendly binding construction agreement.

Our proactive approach to project management continued during the construction period, where we were appointed as the superintendent. Our role involved monitoring the builder’s performance against the programme, contract documents and quality assurance plan, as well as managing compliance in accordance with the obligations specified in the facility documents. Our experience dictates that variations and extension of times are the most contentious issues between a contractor and developer. To avoid potential disputes, we reviewed and made recommendations on each claim submitted by the contractor arriving at reasonable measures/values for works performed or time claimed.

Our efforts facilitated the delivery of a defect-free project, under budget and within the anticipated contract programme.   < Back to Advisory page