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Property

Photo credit: Dale Cooper

We have worked in different parts of the property sector around the world. Some of our clients and activities are noted below.

Astoria Group

We developed a simple quantitative model of the uncertainties in operating revenues and costs for retirement village development over a 25-year horizon.

Buildcorp

We developed cost risk modelling methods and tools, based on @Risk for Excel, for Buildcorp's tender price setting and corporate financial planning.

We developed a performance indicator to assess the stability of project managers' and business managers' forecasts for use in reviewing performance and encouraging reliable forecasts.

Centro Properties Group

We provided advice on the company’s risk management framework and briefings for the management team.

Chubb Services and Lend Lease Property Management

We facilitated a joint workshop to develop a set of key functions and agreed priorities for the services to be provided by Chubb for Lend Lease Property Management at a retail shopping plaza.

Department of Defence, outsourcing of facilities management

We worked with the Defence Commercial Support Program on outsourcing of warehouse support services and other initiatives; we facilitated risk management planning to assist an in-house bid for the provision of defence garrison support services; we advised on risks associated with outsourcing of activities such as cleaning, guarding, and warehouse support for a defence headquarters group.

Department of Defence, Public Private Partnership

We developed quantitative models of the uncertainty in cash flows and assisted in preparing the public sector comparator for a large PPP associated with the provision of a special-purpose building.

Department of Human Services (Victoria)

We supported the Carlton Housing Redevelopment project, a public private housing and community renewal, with early risk assessments, tender price risk adjustment during procurement, and risk assessment updates during execution.

We conducted a complex risk assessment of the Housing Affordability Fund Master Planning (HAFMP) program to establish a shared view of the project's challenges among its many stakeholders, identify priorities for risk treatment planning and control assurance, and expose the strategic risks driving risks in the program.

We conducted a comparative risk assessment of options for the procurement of Place Management services of a housing development near Melbourne incorporating public housing, aged care and private housing, to resolve a choice between a single tender negotiation with a well matched service provider and a lengthy open tender with an unpredictable outcome.

We developed archetype options to explore a strategic approach to introducing new management arrangements to a major inner city public housing location that had to meet a short term requirement while taking account of major policy discussions that were still underway at the time. We used a comparative risk assessment to expose the relative merits of the options and inform short and longer term decision making.

European property manager

We undertook a quantitative financial risk assessment of a large European shopping centre to support decisions about the preferred redevelopment options.

GPT Group

We worked on several occasions with The GPT Group to assist in quantitative modelling of property development proposals and to provide mentoring advice to the property analysis team.

Housing New Zealand

We facilitated quantitative risk analyses of the business case cost and benefit estimate, and of the schedule, for the Enterprise Transformation Programme.

Jones Lang LaSalle

We facilitated a workshop to review the main threats and opportunities for a new business formed from the merger of two property organisations with different business structures and cultures; outcomes from the workshop were a list of key risks, with agreed priorities and responsibilities for avoiding or controlling the threats and capturing and exploiting the opportunities.

Land Development Agency, ACT

We conducted qualitative risk workshops and quantitative risk analyses for civil harbour works on Lake Burley Griffin.

Leighton Contractors

We worked with Leighton Contractors to develop a quantitative model of the uncertainty in the capital costs associated with the design and construction of a portfolio of special-purpose buildings, to be located at sites around Australia. We conducted workshops with the regional estimating teams to analyse variations in quantities and rates, based on a standard design and bill of quantities that had been developed centrally. The model took into account common features, common sources of uncertainty and regional variations.

Lend Lease

We assisted Lend Lease develop its corporate approach to risk management; we facilitated risk workshops with many business units around the world; we conducted risk assessments associated with systems development projects; we provided risk management training; we provided mentoring advice for a large UK project; we developed quantitative models to assist in evaluating investments in retirement villages.

Mirvac

We conducted a gap analysis and maturity evaluation of the company’s enterprise risk management framework and recommended improvements and an implementation plan.

SA Government

We assisted a government agency to develop an understanding of the skills it would need to acquire before it embarked on a market testing or outsourcing exercise associated with the management of geographically-dispersed community facilities, including strategic asset management, property management and conduct of works on individual sites.

Thakral Holdings Group

We assisted the company to identify and evaluate the main benefits and risks associated with a large CBD property development proposal in central Sydney associated with a major transport hub.

Whiddon Group

We conducted a review of the risk management processes in use in the Group.

Related case studies

  • Supporting property development decisions

    This case study outlines how a property development company analysed uncertainty as an input to a Board decision. It discusses practical ways to simplify the structure of property development models to include uncertainty estimates in a reasonable way, to overcome problems associated with the inherent complexity of many of them. It also notes the importance of setting workshop agendas to make it easy for senior executives to participate.

  • Land use near a major hazard facility

    When a proposal to build an aged care facility was received by a local council, a nearby major hazard facility lodged an objection to it. The council asked Broadleaf to investigate whether or not the objection was justified, and to be an expert witness in a formal public hearing. Our expertise in land use safety planning and regulatory requirements was useful in this process. In particular, we were able to guide the council to ask the right questions of the owner of the refinery to achieve a satisfactory planning outcome.

  • Wind turbines for a residential building

    Our client was the owner of a portfolio of high-rise residential buildings. It planned to install wind turbines on several of its buildings. The aim was to enhance its reputation for sustainability by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, offsetting energy use from other sources and striving for a ‘zero carbon’ outcome. The risk assessment we facilitated provided a comprehensive understanding of the challenges the project would face and how they were related to one another.

  • An index of the stability of business forecasts

    A client concerned about the reliability of project forecasts wanted a way to assess how stable they were over the life of a project. If a profit forecast is reliable, the cash flow of the business can be managed to take advantage of it. While most people can see the difference between a steady forecast and one that moves up and down erratically from month to month, a purely subjective assessment can be challenged, making it difficult to hold people to account for this aspect of their management performance. Broadleaf developed a simple mechanism to introduce objectivity into the process.

  • Risk modelling to support commercial decisions

    For many years, Broadleaf has worked with the commercial construction company Buildcorp to help understand the risk associated with uncertainty in project costs and contract cash flows. Models of cost risk and net present value have become valuable components of Buildcorp’s bid preparation and commercial decision-making. In addition to generating useful quantitative assessments, these models provide a framework for important conversations about the quality and reliability of cost estimates and the commercial challenges of managing cash flows and achieving acceptable margins. (updated August 2016)

  • Business risks in an oil refinery

    We conducted a risk assessment for the management team at an oil refinery. The primary objective was to identify risks to the refinery as a business and develop an agreed priority listing of them. A subsidiary objective was to expose the management team to the risk management process. The management team wanted confidence for themselves and their major shareholders that the main risks to the business had been identified and were being managed well.

  • Construction costs for a portfolio of buildings

    A national construction company was part of a consortium bidding for a public private partnership. The winning bidder would have to deliver a large number of dwelling units at sites across Australia, and maintain them for an extended period. We worked with the contractor to develop quantitative models of the uncertainty in the design and construction costs for the project, taking into account common features, common sources of uncertainty and regional variations.

  • Exploring synergies in an organisational merger

    Two property services organisations, one with a corporate structure and one a partnership, had agreed to merge their businesses into a new corporate entity. An opportunity and threat workshop was conducted, as part of a larger team-building process.

Related resource material