One of the first steps is evaluation and gaining a better understanding of their existing portfolios, to make the best of what they’ve got – given constraints on availability of finance.  Typically the portfolios are older, B grade and ripe for opportunity.

Strategic Asset Planning provides short, medium and long term views on minimising cost, managing risk and maximising returns through continued due diligence.

There is a positive trend towards this approach starting with understanding baseline data in terms of condition, performance and environmental and regulatory compliance in such a way that is cost effective, meaningful, useable and enduring.  It is vital to know what data needs to be collected and how it should be best used and managed for maximum effect.

The benefits of such strategic planning are instrumental to growth and can assist in improving the portfolio in terms of presentation, efficiencies, positioning, leasing, sales and returns.  Such planning is likely to include the following:

Napier & Blakeley form partnerships with property owners and managers to provide commercially oriented strategic asset management plans across all property sectors.

Our clients include:

• Aviva
• BlackRock
• Brookfield Multiplex
• GE Capital
• Local Government Super
• Motor Accident Commission

Contact 

 Our strategic, cost effective advice will best position your property for the future.

Call Napier & Blakeley today if you want further information or regarding any other Napier & Blakeley services:

Melbourne - Rob Howells            03 9915 6300             rhowells@napierblakeley.com
Sydney – Gavin Peach                02 9299 1899              gpeach@napierblakeley.com

Napier & Blakeley Services:

• Technical Due Diligence
• Capital Expenditure Planning
• Quantity Surveying
• Strategic Asset Management
• Building & Sustainability Consulting
• Accredited NABERS Ratings
• Accredited CBD Tenancy Lighting Assessments
• Property Depreciation

Over the past few years,

“Risky” has taken on a whole new meaning in the last few years and as we’ve talked about before you could have the best site in town, with an award winning design and 100% pre sales – but this in some instances still proved too risky for the banks in an uncertain market going forward.

To be fair to the banks, we are seeing increased lending activity in some sectors of the market, generally not large builds but certainly in the up to $20m market and more recently to a limited extent in the $20m to $100m sector with some isolated builds over $100m, so some of the banks, at least seem to have a developing appetite for deals.

A significant issue raised by a number of banks, is the quantum and quality of equity being put forward by developers with lenders wanting to see “real dollars” as a means of mitigating their risk further.

Obviously there are significantly differing market risks at play as we speak, with property markets across the country varying greatly in terms of rise or fall in value.

Melbourne has been pretty steady in terms of new development for us over the last two years.

Sydney has been through a substantial quiet time but now appears to be gaining some momentum with some lenders realising opportunity exists in certain physical areas where development has been scarce in recent years and as a result market pricing has held up and rental pricing has increased significantly.

South East Queensland is still problematic with the banks still holding many “difficult” loans on their books that may take some time to realise any value, let alone return on investment. General market sentiment, in particular business investment, remains weak as a result of a continued lack of confidence and the perception of a lack of credit in the system.

Now that the banks have started to relook at property lending in a more energetic way, there will also no doubt be some property workouts and possibly more developers placed in administration or receivership, with the banks now able to dissect their problems more analytically than over the past two and half years where there were so many problem parts of the economy, not just property.

There are (and always have been) other forms of capital available in the marketplace in the form of equity from private investors, large investment houses and in some cases offshore funds. We have also seen an increase in equity partnerships being offered by the larger contractors as a means of securing workload and as an attempt to avoid a competitive tender situation.

These sources of capital are traditionally more expensive to borrowers, but these lenders/equity participants traditionally enter into these markets as they see significant potential upside in some deals, not just on the debt/equity terms but also in the potential take out in markets that desperately need new property stock.

Where to now in terms of construction costs?

We will over the next few weeks release our updated construction cost data cards, looking at how costs have changed over the last 12 months and where they might be expected to go from here.

Contact 

Our strategic, cost effective advice will best position your property for the future.  Call Napier & Blakeley today if you want further information or regarding any other Napier & Blakeley services:

Melbourne - Craig Smith           03 9915 6300               csmith@napierblakeley.com
Sydney – Peter Hammond         02 9299 1899         phammond@napierblakeley.com
Brisbane - Paul Cosker             07 3221 8255            pcosker@napierblakeley.com 

• Quantity Surveying
• Capital Expenditure Planning 
• Technical Due Diligence
• Accredited NABERS Ratings
• Building & Sustainability Consulting
• Property Depreciation
• Accredited CBD Tenancy Lighting Assessments
• Strategic Asset Management

Transitional Provisions Ending this Year

The current transitional provisions of the CBD program that require only a NABERS base building energy rating to be disclosed will end on 31 October 2011, with full mandatory disclosure requirements commencing on 1 November 2011.

From 1 November 2011, the Building Energy Efficiency Disclosure Act 2010 (BEED Act) requires corporations selling, leasing or subleasing certain large (>2000sqm) office spaces to register a full Building Energy Efficiency Certificate (BEEC), not just a NABERS rating.

What is a BEEC ?

The BEEC is comprised of three parts:

1.   NABERS Energy base building rating
2.   Tenancy lighting energy efficiency assessment
3.   General energy efficiency guidance for building owners and tenants

The BEEC may be valid for up to 12 months, however will only be valid to the date of the expiry of either Parts 1 or 2 whichever occurs first, as Parts 1 and 2 individually may be valid for up to 12 months but may be completed at different times.

At the time of disclosure, the BEEC will need to be valid, current and registered on the publicly accessible registry on the CBD program’s website.

Importantly, both the NABERS rating and new tenancy lighting assessments take a significant amount of time to complete the assessment and certification process, so need to be undertaken and certified well before a need to disclose for advertising may arise to avoid the risk of non-compliance with the legislation.

What’s the difference?

The required BEEC now incorporates a tenancy lighting assessment. A CBD tenancy lighting assessment of a building is based on a methodical survey of the general lighting system installed in the tenant office spaces of a building (the system that is reasonably expected to be left in a tenant space when the tenant leaves and the tenancy fitout removed).

The NABERS base building rating requirements remains the same as the current transitional provisions, and still requires a full 12 months of building operational data to provide a valid accredited NABERS assessment. Note that a NABERS estimate or non-accredited assessment has no credibility in terms of the BEEC, it requires a current certified NABERS Energy base building rating.

The general energy efficiency guidance will be provided as part of the BEEC when issued.

Accredited tenancy lighting assessments

For a lighting assessment to be valid under the BEED Act, it must be performed in accordance with the new CBD Tenancy Lighting Assessment for Offices Rules, by a CBD accredited assessor.

The tenancy lighting assessments may be completed for all of the building, in which the total office space NLA is assessed, or for a selection of tenancies only within the building. Typically, an all building assessment would be undertaken if the building is being prepared for sale. Assessments of tenancies typically would be undertaken if these areas are to be advertised for lease or sub-lease.

The lighting assessment measures only the energy used by the lighting on an area basis. It does not assess or measure lighting output, quality or suitability of the lighting for use in offices.

Penalties for failure

Failure to disclose may result in civil penalties of up to $110,000 for the first day and $11,000 for each subsequent day may be imposed by a Court for each breach of a disclosure obligation. Alternatively, the Secretary of the Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency can issue an infringement notice of up to $11,000 for the first day and $1,100 for each subsequent day of non-compliance.

Further penalties may apply for various breaches of the CBD. Refer to the website for further information with links to the Act and subordinate legislation: www.cbd.gov.au

Have you got a CBD action plan?

Napier & Blakeley are experts in the provision of strategic property advice and can assist in getting your property ready for the demands of the full disclosure requirements.

Meeting the requirements for a BEEC in obtaining an accredited NABERS rating and tenancy lighting assessment for your building is time consuming and intensive, which many people underestimate, so be pro active and plan ahead.

The CBD accreditation and training process for performing tenancy lighting assessments is underway. It is expected that tenancy lighting assessments and hence full BEECs will be available from July 2011, so don’t leave it to the last minute to meet your mandatory disclosure requirements and organise a BEEC with a CBD accredited assessor.

Contact 

Our strategic, cost effective advice will best position your property for the future.

Call Napier & Blakeley today to ensure you are ready for the upcoming changes to this legislation on 1 November 2011 or if you want further information on the Commercial Building Disclosure, or any other Napier & Blakeley services please contact any of our offices below:

Melbourne - Rob Howells            03 9915 6300             rhowells@napierblakeley.com
Sydney – Gavin Peach                02 9299 1899              gpeach@napierblakeley.com

Napier & Blakely services:

• Accredited CBD Tenancy Lighting Assessments
• Accredited NABERS Ratings
• Technical Due Diligence
• Capital Expenditure Planning
• Quantity Surveying
• Strategic Asset Management
• Building & Sustainability Consulting
• Property Depreciation