Our Personnel: David Allt-Graham – Development Director, NewQuay

David Allt-Graham came to MAB in August 2008 and has been working on some major projects ever since. He shares his story with us.

I completed a double degree in Architecture and Property and Construction at Melbourne University. It was a long course, and in my last few years I worked for an architectural firm and the developer Neometro. They were an unusual developer because they also designed and (at the time) built all their projects.

Their multidisciplinary approach resonated with me because I was interested in all stages of development. It also stressed the importance of having ‘vision’. At the time, they were doing warehouse conversions and apartments in the back streets of Prahran, South Melbourne and St Kilda.

I also began an MBA at Monash University in 2008. It’s a love/hate relationship but having started my career from a design and construction background, it’s been good to pick up some fundamentals of accounting, finance and economics giving me skills in business and management.

I’ve had responsibilities at the ‘front end’ and delivery roles. I’m an advocate for having some delivery experience – lots of good lessons about time, cost and quality.

In my development career I’ve focused on major inner urban development projects including Commonwealth Games Village, the New Royal Children’s Hospital and the St Kilda Triangle.

My very first graduate role was with Bovis Lend Lease in 2000 working on Victoria Harbour, so Docklands has been in my blood from the start! A few of my mates at Bovis were assigned to MAB’s first four towers at NewQuay which commenced in the same year. It was the glamour job – MAB’s towers were an incredibly bold statement in their surroundings.

My first role at MAB was to replan the balance of the land in NewQuay West.

At the time, residential sales were dampened by the global financial crisis so my focus was diverted to key worker housing projects which we planned for NewQuay and Moorabbin. We secured both projects – it was a great example of MAB’s competitive agility in a changing environment.

NewQuay is undergoing its second major growth phase and it’s great to be part of that exciting growth. Over the last 10 years the NewQuay team has done a terrific job establishing NewQuay with strong fundamentals based around transport options, high quality public space and good architecture. In the next couple of years, there’s an opportunity for this team to concentrate on the gaps, optimising our infill sites and improving the cohesion of our development with our neighbours. Beyond that we have the balance of the undeveloped land – the potential is huge.

NewQuay’s vision moving forward.
We’ve set ourselves an aggressive plan to deliver a stream of high quality residential projects. We are focussing on how we can deliver a diversity of residential options for the different segments of the residential market and how we can offer a product that is relevant and appealing for each of them.

As with all great places, variety is the spice of life.