Sensational-Adelaide.com

Boutique developer has soaring ambition for city living

by: TRADING ROOM: Teresa Ooi From: The Australian May 24, 2012



Bing Chen in front of 87 Angas Street, Adelaide, a site bought by Palladio for the development of a six tower residential project in Adelaide's CBD.

Picture: Kelly Barnes Source: The Australian

BING Chen, boss of the Chinese-backed Palladio Property Group, says property has always been in his blood.

After graduating with a first-class honours degree in software engineering from the University of Melbourne, he worked for six years in technology before he took a chance to switch careers, becoming the general manager of a boutique property developer, Palladio, then known as Hui Gu Investments.

"I have always loved property," Chen says.

"Shortly after I graduated, with the help of my family I bought my first run-down house in Doncaster for $400,000. I lived in it for six months and sold it for $500,000. It was my first barrel of gold."

The fact Chen's wife, Yanna Lu, is a real estate agent working as a buyer's advocate has also sealed his love for property.

After a year, he was promoted to managing director as Palladio looked to expand its operations to Adelaide.

Palladio is backed by three Chinese directors from mainland China who are business partners in infrastructure and construction projects in Yunnan province.

The three Chinese directors are Li Yiding, who lives in Melbourne, and Qiu Song Tao and Yu Mao He, who are based in China but visit Australia frequently.

Today Chen and Palladio are taking one of their biggest gambles - they have just unveiled plans to build a $140 million apartment project in Adelaide's CBD.

The project will have six apartment towers of different heights with the tallest at 22 storeys.

"We have a masterplan to make sure that the development will interact with the local community with lots of cafes, restaurants and bars," Chen says. "There will be an interesting mix of one, two and three-bedroom apartments and a few terrace houses. All the flats are spacious and airy."

To create a community feeling among residents, there will be open-air interlinking plazas between the apartment buildings, with pools, gymnasiums and outdoor decks. The staged development will have a total of 200 apartments and each block will have only two to five flats a floor.

"Adelaide is a conservative market and people are looking for space, good-sized apartments with car parking. It will be city apartment living at its best so that more people will be attracted to migrate back to the CBD."

Palladio paid $6.5m for the 2860sq m site on Angas Street.

The size of the project for a boutique developer such as Palladio does not intimidate Chen.

"Palladio directors have handled bigger projects in China and we have invested in a lot of research and hired the best brains to design the development and deliver on what we promise," he says.

A development application has been lodged with the state's planning department and a decision is expected soon.

Chen, 30, has come a long way since he arrived alone in Melbourne at age 16 with very little English.

"It's been a very long journey and it was really tough in the beginning. But when you are young, you learn to adapt fast. I now consider myself an Australian."

While he appreciates AFL, Chen plays only basketball - three times a week. But Chen's main game is property.

After his first house purchase in Doncaster, Chen has since bought a house in Burwood, which he has renovated and rented out.

He has also bought a house in Kew which he has totally refurbished. "I bought the Burwood property for $700,000 in 2007 and it is now worth at least $900,000."

Chen says that before he buys a property in a particular suburb he inspects hundreds of houses and attends auctions in the area so that he can get an understanding of the market. "I would have inspected at least 500 properties before I made the decision to buy in Burwood."

Chen looks for property with potential, adding that he enjoys renovating. "The residential market is quite soft at the moment as people are still nervous, but this is a good time to negotiate the best deal," Chen says.

"That's why Palladio is on the lookout to buy more development sites in Adelaide's CBD and Melbourne's city fringe."

In Melbourne, the company is undertaking two small projects: the building of two townhouses and a low-rise apartment project in Camberwell.

Waewick wrote:with all due respect.

this will have to be funded totally by his Chinese investors, I cannot see any Bank going with a 1m miles of this.

Ben wrote:

Waewick wrote:with all due respect.

this will have to be funded totally by his Chinese investors, I cannot see any Bank going with a 1m miles of this.

I don't think that will bother them.