Evolving story

Evolution: Ron Walker pitch into property is paying off

Ron Walker’s decision to listen to a young property developer’s pitch for investment back in 2004 is proving to be an extremely wise one.

Ashley Williams, now 39, had spent about a decade working for various Melbourne property groups but decided to strike out on his own. He managed to snare a meeting with Walker - who had helped build Hudson Conway with fellow BRW Rich 200 list member Lloyd Williams (no relation to Ashley) into one of Melbourne’s biggest property developers before selling it in 1999.

Walker provided some of the capital and their company, Evolve Development, was born. Six years later the company is one of the fastest-growing groups in Melbourne is worth at least $250 million. The investment has proven to be an excellent one for Walker and Williams debuted on the BRW Young Rich list last year.

What separates Evolve is a canny two-pronged strategy of building apartments in sought-after inner-city locations, as well as selling housing lots in Melbourne’s thriving northern suburbs. Williams estimates the group has sold about 350 apartments and 250 blocks of land in the past year. “We only need one or two good deals per year to keep things ticking over,” he says.

Its latest deal will be its biggest project. Evolve purchased the old Channel 7 headquarters in inner-city Southbank in February from Westpac Funds Management. Williams launched a sale campaign for the 353-apartment project a month later, with one-bedroom apartments from $320,000 to $550,000 and two-bedroom units from $500,000 to $760,000. Six months later about 90 per cent of the apartments have been pre-sold and construction is set to begin by the end of the year.

It hasn’t all been smooth sailing for Evolve, however. It has faced strong opposition to a plan to develop residential towers with 412 dwellings in the elite western suburb of Williamstown. The Victorian planning minister has appointed a planning advisory committee to consider the project, with submissions to the committee recently closing. The committee will make a recommendation to the minister, who will make the final decision. It is possible the project will be scaled back but not rejected outright.

BRW

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