Sydney developer Dyldam’s Joe Khattar is Urban Taskforce’s property person of the year

Sydney developer Dyldam’s Joe Khattar is Urban Taskforce’s property person of the year
Staff ReporterDecember 7, 2020

Sydney-based developer Dyldam’s founder and chief executive Joe Khattar has been named Property Person of the Year by Urban Taskforce. 

Khattar arrived in Australia from Tripoli in 1967 when he was 17 and joined his father in the construction industry just two years later. He led Dyldam from a small operation 47 years ago into a leading provider of affordable apartments with a special focus in Western Sydney, according to a media release.

Urban Taskforce CEO Chris Johnson said, “Joe Khattar seems to be everywhere in Western Sydney with Dyldam as sponsors of the GWS Giants AFL team, the Sydney Kings national basketball team, junior rugby, football and AFL sporting teams along with charities and community organisations.” 

Dyldam’s projects include the award-winning Koi Parramatta apartment project, a three-tower development at 142 Macquarie Street and a precinct proposed at Gateway South in Parramatta. The developer has 2,000 apartments and 50,000 sqm of commercial space in the planning approval stage in Parramatta alone, said the release.

Urban Taskforce Chair, Peter Daley said “Joe has worked his way up through the building and development industry to becoming one of the major developers in NSW.”

Adds Johnson, “Joe Khattar’s life is a fascinating example of a migrant working his way up in Australia. Joe arrived from Tripoli in 1967 at the age of 17. Just two years later, having studied at Arthur Phillip High School, Joe became the third generation of the Khattar family to work in the construction industry.

“In 1969, he joined forces with his father Naim Khattar to build a humble red brick six unit walk-up – establishing what was to become one of Australia’s leading high density residential developers.”

Khattar is also president of the Australian Lebanese Chamber of Commerce.

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