Today’s partner Ashley Williams, a civil engineer prior to founding Evolve in 2003, had been involved in a string of major projects, including Melbourne City Link and the $1 billion New Quay precinct at Melbourne Docklands.
“Ashley came to me about 10 years ago with a vision to become a dominant builder and landowner and I backed him all the way,” Walker says. “Ashley has 14 young men and women upstairs (at the Albert Road offices) that are all trained and qualified.
“The secret of our business is to keep our young people invigorated. All their views are taken into consideration – it’s just not lip service. We actually listen to what people have to say. I think it’s terribly important to promote the young person of the future.”
Walker says Evolve focuses on building apartments for a sale price of between $300,000 and $500,000. An apartment block includes community gymnasiums and other recreational facilities.
“We don’t want to be in the $1 million-to-$3 million price bracket – that’s a different market,” he says. “We want to cater for the young, transient population.
“We do a lot of research as to what people want and it’s one, two and three bedroom apartments that have all the electronic gadgetry, a kitchen, a laundry and a lift to bring up the bike. They also want car parking.
“I think when people are maturing and finding their way in life, they want to be near the action. So we make sure our developments are close to public transport and recreational facilities that people can walk to, such as the MCG.
“I don’t think young people want to spend time mowing lawns, and a lot don’t want backyards. They will eventually get married and move to a property with a backyard.”
Walker says Evolve sells about 80% of apartments off the plan – “before the first brick goes into the ground”.
“We are terribly risk averse and we don’t want the market to dictate the fortunes of our company,” he says. “I’ve been around for decades and I understand the frailty of the property market and how quickly it can turn.”
Property developers, perhaps by the very nature of the industry, are renowned for going broke. Walker says property developers invariably fail because they are greedy, borrow too much and can’t read the market.
“In business and property development, you need to take a modicum of risk, but you don’t need to make a large bet,” Walker says.
“It’s not worth it. We don’t want to be the biggest in town, or the smallest in town, but we want to stay alive. Businesses go broke because the managers lack the entrepreneurial flair and marketing skills to enable it to survive.”
Walker says the banks are “just as guilty as the borrower” when making loans to meet their short-term budgets, but “know inside” some can’t be repaid.
It was in property development that Walker made his fortune. The formerly ASX-listed Hudson Conway is probably best known for building Crown Casino in the 1990s before the Packer family’s Publishing and Broadcasting Ltd (PBL) took over the casino in 1999. Walker would later sell shares he held in PBL at close to the top of the market for a reputed $80 million, a figure he won’t confirm.
In the 1980s, Hudson Conway was contracted to build a sprawling new head office at Tooronga for the then ASX-listed Coles Myer company.
But bigger and better was to follow when Hudson Conway became the second biggest property owner in England after buying 5500 Courage pubs in partnership with Elders IXL for about £2.3 billion.
To reduce risk, all the English hotels were underpinned by tenants, providing income for business costs.
“A lot of people in the property industry don’t bother about risk – that’s not the way we operated then or now,” Walker says.
Evolve will lodge a submission to build a superstructure over the Jolimont rail yards when the Victorian Government calls for tenders. Evolve will partner industry superannuation fund Cbus and will tender to build a deck over the rail yards, accompanied by an entertainment precinct.
Walker expects the successful bidder for the $1 billion-plus project will be announced next year. He says it’s time to “develop the dream” that has been espoused by every Victorian Premier dating back to Sir Henry Bolte (1955-1972). Walker’s dream includes a hotel, offices, apartments and an art gallery.
“I envisage our building will be a minimum of 70 floors, but that will be a lot less than other superstructures,” he says.
Walker wanted to build the project during John Cain’s reign (from 1982 to 1990), but the former Premier couldn’t deliver the rail yards because of ownership complications; now an opportunity exists for a rail yards development.
“We’re confident it will happen, whether it be Evolve, Lend Lease, Leighton Holdings – somebody will do it this time,” he says.
But Walker is far less confident that Evolve will be the successful bidder. “No, I’m not confident about anything because it’s a tender process,” he says. “Each design will be different.”
Leaders must be willing to make mistakes
Top leaders share their ideas and aspirations with key staff, Walker says. They have the courage to make a decision and stick to it, but it’s also the quality of the decision. They must have weighed up the likely consequences, but they can deal with the unexpected out of left field. Good leaders guard against complacency.
“A lot of leaders won’t make a decision because they’re afraid to be seen making a mistake,” he says. “And, therefore, they shouldn’t be in a leadership position – rather they should be a follower. Invariably good leaders inspire others to follow.”
He says leaders shouldn’t get carried away with their own success. If they let their guard down, competitors will take advantage.
“Napoleon was a great leader for a number of years, but because of his success, he lost his way,” he says.
Walker considers engineer turned executive and board director Sir Arvi Parbo and G.J. Coles, the founder of what would become supermarket Coles, as among Australia’s best-ever leaders. Sir Arvi because, “as an immigrant, he came to Australia with nothing, got his hands dirty (in mining) and went on to become chairman of BHP”.
“And G.J. Coles was just a standout in developing a retail empire,” he says.
Walker says successful leaders grow businesses through astute investing and a careful watch on the finances. They study trends, such as consumer spending, and financially track what’s happening around the world.
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