Garry Rothwell named Property Person of the Year
Garry Rothwell, founder and principal of the Winten Property Group, has been named Property Person of the Year 2011 by the Urban Taskforce.
Since 1972, off the back of his architectural training, Rothwell has undertaken more than 180 development projects, building a reputation for quality of design and innovation, the award panel noted.
While much of the Winten’s public persona centres on boutique apartments constructed most noteworthily in Point Piper, Cremorne Point, Potts Point and Palm Beach, Rothwell has also developed extensively in medium-density markets and pioneered more affordable compact living apartments on Sydney’s lower north shore.
“Along with his development activities Garry is an active supporter of various charities, including the dedication of time through directorship roles, and a patron of heritage preservation,” Urban Taskforce’s chairman Noel Hemmings says.
“From a base of residential development activity, Garry expanded into land subdivision and has developed many thousands of lots throughout estates in NSW and South East Queensland in the last three decades.
“Growth continued into the commercial office sector, where notable successes include the winning tender for the NSW Police Headquarters at Parramatta,” Hemmings says.
“Garry’s group has been a consistent winner of industry awards and in particular was the winner of the inaugural Urban Taskforce Development Excellence Award in 2002 for the Forum at St Leonards.
“Garry pioneered transit-orientated development and Forum remains the template for high-density mixed-use developments over railway stations.”
Winten’s current portfolio includes planning for some 6,000 home sites in Sydney’s North West Growth Centre, some 140,000 square metres of next-generation commercial office space along with 200 residential apartments on Sydney’s Lower North Shore and continued land subdivision in the Lower Hunter and southeast Queensland.
The Winten Property Group has never maintained a construction arm, preferring to contract individual projects to those builders best resourced for a specific job.
Its website notes the group has grown from the architectural talent of its principal into a multi-discipline company with approximately $800 million of project activity underway.
Its business name is Garry Rothwell's middle name.
Garry Rothwell and his wife, Susan, have been major supporters of the Endangered Houses Fund within the NSW Historic Houses Trust.
The Property Person of the Year Award, now in its ninth year, was awarded last year to Bob Rose, chief executive Officer of Rose Property Group, whose 50-year career in property has included the ongoing development of the 52-hectare AGL site at Mortlake – which has been transformed into the new Breakfast Point community. Breakfast Point, a joint venture with Cbus, will be home to 5,000 people after its 16-year development program roll-out.
The inaugural winner was Harry Triguboff, chairman and managing director of Meriton Apartments Pty Ltd, which has built more than 55,000 houses and apartments in Australia. In 2004, it completed Sydney's tallest residential building, the World Tower, and in 2011 it completed Brisbane’s tallest building.
Other previous winners included Wal King, chief executive at Leighton Holdings, Greg Goodman, chief executive at Goodman, Bill Moss, former chief executive Officer of the banking and property group at Macquarie Bank, Lang Walker, chairman of Walker Corporation, and Liam Forde, the chief executive of Baulderstone Hornibrook.
