HM Developments' Mclean Henzell discussed The Cove at Pelican Waters

HM Developments Director, Mclean Henzell, chats to Urban about their latest project, The Cove at Pelican Waters.

Urban.com.au: With the Australian Government planning to revive the economy post-COVID-19, do you think development applications, such as The Cove’s, will be fast-tracked? If so, how will this influence HM’s development plans?

Mclean Henzell: I certainly hope so, there’s a lot of red tape that holds up the speed of approvals for projects like The Cove. We have a range of projects in design, planning and construction at the moment which we haven’t changed projected timeframes due to COVID. We’ve found that owner-occupiers and the downsizing market have, if anything, made the shift into projects like The Cove faster due to the higher quality and low maintenance of living they offer. To be able to have development applications fast-tacked on projects such as these, to facilitate their move sooner, would be great. 

U: How does The Cove compare to other previously launched projects in HM Developments’ portfolio e.g. Carlyle Terraces, in terms of demand, sales conversion rate etc.? 

MH: The Cove is our largest project launched to date. The project has been in design and planning for the last two years. Our Sales Director Marcus Muir has done an exceptional job meeting with locals before the launch of the project, consulting with them to determine exactly what it is they’d like to see here. This has allowed us to ensure that what we deliver will not only meet, but exceed, their expectations. We’re expecting to achieve a strong sales conversion rate when we launch the project in August. 

We anticipate that many of our buyers will be coming from the local Pelican Waters area and The Cove offers them a great opportunity to downsize into a modern new dwelling, whilst being able to remain in the area they love and are familiar with. There is certainly built up demand for the project which offers a great point of difference to anything else on offer in the area. 

U: It was reported that the first stage of The Cove witnessed “exceptional demand from local owner-occupiers”. To what extent do you believe this demand was impacted by COVID-19? 

MH: As mentioned above, COVID has if anything fast-tracked local owner-occupiers to make the shift into quality apartments faster than they would have I believe. 

U: The Henzell family has been in the property industry for four generations, and I’m sure that you have overcome a lot of challenges in the past. How does the current COVID-19 pandemic compare to past property market crises? What makes this current crisis different from others? 

Mclean Henzell, said the GFC was much more devastating than COVID-19 as he found buyers were defaulting on their settlements. But for his father, Roy Henzell in 1980/81 the phone didn’t even ring and then in the late ’80s money was too expensive to borrow. 

"At the moment we are seeing that the downsizer market is relatively immune to the effects of COVID-19, as they are in a position where they can purchase property without the need to take out a mortgage. 

Given that our upcoming project in Pelican Waters, The Cove, is largely tailored towards downsizers, we’ve been fortunate in that we aren’t seeing settlement risks like we did in 2009 for projects of a similar nature."