I advise on a broad range of property matters, including acquisitions and disposals (receivership/mortagee, commercial and industrial), commercial leasing (involving the consolidation of office space and relocation of some of Australia's biggest blue chip companies), retail leasing (involving negotiations with major retail landlords throughout Australia), corporate due diligence (eco-tourism, wind farms, airline, commercial, university and institutional and industrial), public private partnerships (universities), joint ventures, advice work and strategic planning (Crown lands, leasehold estates and other forms of land holding tenure).

Career highlights

• ­National Lead Property Partner for SingTel Optus, having advised that telco for over 16 years.
• Advising on the A$2.6bn Iron Mountain merger with Recall Holdings. This involved strategically advising in respect of due diligence.
• Advised on numerous transactions for REITs, in the commercial and industrial space, including acting for Charter Hall, Morgan Stanley Real Estate on its multibillion dollar acquisition of Investa Property Group and the acquisition by Dexus of the Colonial industry property portfolio.
• Worked as a member of the Lendlease legal team for half of FY16 to manage that company's retail portfolio.

My advice has included:

• Documenting telecommunications installations at major infrastructure sites involving private developers and public entities, such as CrossCity Tunnel, Lane Cove Tunnel, Epping/Chatswood Tunnel, Sydney Trains CBD circle and Perth Rail, along with numerous master agreements with major landholders (Department of Defence, Sydney Trains, Department of Transport, Queensland Rail).
• Advising on its sale of 700 plus towers to Axicom and the property issues, including subsequent negotiations with Axicom for subsequent transactions.
• Advising on other property related transactions, such as site re-configurations, relocations, bulk agreements with utilities and other carriers including master facilities access agreements, access to buildings, land access activity notices, objections to those notices, referrals to the TIO and compensation agreements.
• Strategic advice in relation to various landholding issues, such as legislative powers, immunities and restrictions, preparation and documentation of easements for access and services as well as corporate due diligence and strategic planning.

• Development for administrators preserving business value during COVID-19 hibernation
  

  A Federal Court of Australia decision has set the scene for providing flexibility to administrators in entering into good faith negotiations with commercial or retail landlords.

• Code of Conduct compendium: commercial leasing principles in COVID-19
  

  The COVID-19 National Cabinet Mandatory Code of Conduct for commercial leases was introduced to help provide support for SME tenants suffering financial hardship. However, its application has caused uncertainty as each state and territory introduced the legislation in slightly different ways. Our compendium helps to navigate those complexities.

• COVID-19: Navigating the Code of Conduct
  

  How is the new national code of conduct for landlords and tenants being rolled out across the country? We spoke to the Property Council of Australia to discuss some of the requirements.

• The ESG evolution of Telco contracts
  

  Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) issues have emerged as critical factors in the effective management and growth of the telecommunications sector.