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Person of Interest – Ben Orton: From pool builder to making a splash with prestige properties
Ben Orton:
From pool builder to making a splash with prestige properties
By Grantlee Kieza, Industry Reporter
Ben Orton entered the management rights industry 11 years ago and his family company, Prestige Residential, is making an impact within the industry.
Prestige Residential focuses on the management of upmarket complexes of residential apartments and luxury homes. Ben says his company is committ ed to the consistent delivery of superior levels of property and building management, to optimise the fi nancial returns and quality of living for both residential investors and residents. working life helping his father build commercial swimming pools on the Gold Coast, before gaining more experience in building projects in London. He now has several major management rights properties under management but is also involved in others through various investments. Some of the major MR complexes managed by Prestige Residential include Atrium at Buderim; High Street at Sippy Downs; Tingirana at Noosa; On The Beach Noosa; Ephraim Island off Paradise Point on the northern end of the Gold Coast; River Reach Apartments plus Riverscape Apartments, the Yungaba complex and The Point Apartments at Kangaroo Point in Brisbane. The management rights to both Atrium Apartments and High Street Apartments complexes in Buderim were purchased last year from leading developer Habitat. Both resort-style complexes are perfectly located near schools and between two large shopping centres, feature several inground swimming pools, BBQ areas, and children's playgrounds - all just 12 minutes from some of the Sunshine Coast’s best beaches.
Tingirana Apartments and On The Beach Noosa are both short-term properties on the popular Hastings Street in Noosa, and off er outstanding absolute beachfront locations.
Ephraim Island is a luxurious residential island, developed by Mirvac, with a total of 385 chic residences on a 9.6-hectare site, and is one of the largest developments on the Gold Coast. The Housing Industry Association (HIA) named Ephraim its “Residential Lifestyle Development of the Year”. Its fi ve precincts are a mix of luxurious apartments, villas and homes.
Three-quarters of the island is dedicated to parkland, with lakes, inlets, and a conservation reserve.
The island lies adjacent to Sovereign Island and facilities on Ephraim include swimming pools, a gym, a marina for over 100 boats, a spa, sauna, steam room, BBQ and meeting facilities for residents.
The Kangaroo Point properties all offer luxury and stunning city views, with Yungaba’s Apartments set amongst 3000 square metres of heritage-listed gardens protected under the Queensland Heritage Council. Riverscape Apartments, Riverreach Apartments and The Point Apartments are all located along the river opposite the Riverside complex and Brisbane CBD. Ben, 38, now lives on the Sunshine Coast but grew up on the Gold Coast, where he helped build swimming pools at Q1, Circle on Cavill and several other high-rise buildings. “After doing that for a while I moved to London for two and a half years,” he said, “and I was working on big construction sites overseeing work for a company called Farcon. I worked on places such as the London Palladium and the London Metropolitan University. We also refurbished the Sheraton Belgravia, a 10-storey building we took back to a concrete structure and then totally refitted. At first, I was supervising just the steel and concrete formwork, but then I ended up across everything. I oversaw plumbers, bricklayers, and multiple teams of laborers, it was a huge responsibility for me to manage such large teams. I don't know why they threw me into the deep end, but I guess they could see I could do the job well, and I was keen to do the work! There was a massive amount of construction going on in London at the time because it was just prior to the 2012 Olympics.” Ben returned to Brisbane to help run a short-stay apartment building in Spring Hill for Warren and Patricia Daniels, the parents of his wife, Emma. “We started off with that one building, a short-stay property, and we built the income up for the family,” Ben said. “We then purchased another couple of buildings, Frisco Apartments in Brisbane, and Vine Apartments in South Brisbane. We used those funds to purchase some perfectly located long-term buildings in Kangaroo Point which are still in our portfolio.” Ben had not been involved in management rights before but growing up on the Gold Coast he was always aware of the MR industry. “My in-laws had been managing hotels for over 40 years in London, Melbourne, PNG and in Brisbane,” he said, “but they wanted to take a step back and let us take over the reins. They were able to retire a year later pretty much, while my wife and I kept growing the portfolio. “Management rights is a great industry for the right person. It's definitely not for everybody, it’s hard work. If anyone tells you it's not, they’re kidding. “We have managers in every building now, and we work very closely with them. It’s a matter of fine-tuning the businesses so they are well run. Some locations lend themselves to people thinking that management rights are a lifestyle job, but it’s still a lot of work, even if you are in a great environment. Even though our properties are in great locations, we don’t treat this as a lifestyle job. We treat our management rights as a property management business and run it that way.” Ben says his 11-year run in the industry has been enjoyable, increasing the efficiencies and income of the buildings in his portfolio. He credits many people for this success, especially Warren and Patricia Daniels who gave him and his wife Emma “a great start”. He said: “All our managers are hand-picked and have been great, but two people have been instrumental in our success and that’s Kylie English and Kiefer Toland. “Kylie is the group general manager and Kiefer is our group operations manager, and they work with me directly. They oversee a lot of the operations and management and work very closely with our onsite managers at each property. “Atrium, Buderim and High Street, in Sippy Downs are just 200 metres apart, as the crow flies. In addition to the onsite managers, we have several grounds and office/letting staff members across them.”
Ben’s advice to anyone wanting to buy into management rights, even on a small scale, is “do your research”. He said: “Make sure you employ MR industry accountants and lawyers, to give you the right advice. Then engage people who are experienced in the field and take their advice the best you can.” He explained: “While Prestige Residential is always looking for opportunities, we have no immediate plans to buy more management rights." He believes the ‘tightly held’ buildings at Noosa continue to offer great potential. “Everyone loves Noosa", he said, it is such a welcoming place. “At the moment we’re concentrating on our current properties and improving their performances where possible. We’ll assess any new properties as they come along. I think in the future we will see larger companies and syndicates becoming involved in management rights.
“The potential income and levels of financial returns make them very exciting investments and more companies will look at them. I think the industry will keep growing.
“Furthermore, there are more and more buildings going up in Southeast Queensland, and the buildings are getting bigger. Once, 30 or 40 years ago, a building might have had 20 walk-up lots but now they are more likely to have 100 on a similar sized block. For the bigger schemes, the involvement of large companies and syndicates could force the earnings and multiples even higher. Big investors are focused on returns, and generally speaking, the bigger the scheme - the better the returns.”
Once an avid golfer and road cyclist, Ben’s leisure time has been curtailed with the growth of the business.
He said: “I might be able to sneak out for a game of golf three times a year now. I ride the bike as much as possible, but the weekly game of golf is a thing of the past. We also have three children who are always on the go. They are aged five, four, and one. They keep us busy but are great fun and at a stage where they need our attention.”
The Yungaba complex – Image Supplied
