Little Italy Rises: From Accidental Concreter to $1.5bn Precinct Play

Italian storytelling skills are legendary, and when the source material is as good as the origin story of Panettiere Property Group’s Little Italy project, the tale writes itself. And while the $1.5-billion mixed-use Brisbane precinct broke ground earlier this year , the journey to the Newstead megaproject was a long one, Panettiere Developments director Max Panettiere said at The Urban Developer ’s Brisbane Residential Developer Summit last month. “I remember going to Park Road to La Dolce Vita, where all the Italians used to hang out and we’d watch Italy playing in the World Cup,” Panettiere said. “But something didn’t sit right. We were sitting under a replica of the Eiffel Tower, and I said to myself, I really need to do something about this. We need our own Italian precinct.” ▲ Panettiere Developments director Max Panettiere at The Urban Developer's Brisbane Residential Developer Summit. Determined to change that, Panettiere, alongside his brothers Joe and Michael, acquired 13 sites around Longland Street in 2017 amounting to 7500sq m. The project was approved for 1000 apartments across three towers with a ground-floor retail precinct centred around a cobbled piazza with 19 speciality shops — a genuine taste of la dolce vita . But in true Aussie fashion enjoying the simple things in life can only come after a bit of hard yakka. It’s all about the journey Despite starting out as a property lawyer, Panettiere found the glitz of sales and marketing more appealing initially. After acquiring a Chermside site for 25 townhouses, he then teamed up with his brothers to develop several hundred townhouses on Brighton swampland. Panettiere’s next venture, however, took an unexpected turn. After selling a finance company to Macquarie Bank the day before the GFC struck in 2007, Panettiere found himself holding $4 million worth of repossessed concrete pumps. “So I repossessed the pumps, and I said to myself, shit, what am I going to do with these things?” From sales to accidental concreter By this point, a major Brisbane concrete pumping company had gone bust, and Panettiere took his now-88-year-old father Filippo to an auction to pick up a small line pump, but missed out. “My dad, being an old Italian, is pretty pissed. We stayed until the end of the auction, and up comes the 52m Putzmeister starting at $700,000,” Panettiere said. “Before I could say anything, my dad puts his hand up, and the hammer drops. I now own the biggest concrete pump in Australia.” ▲ The Bureau Proberts-designed scheme features the 30-storey Oro residential tower. With four repossessed pumps and a new acquisition, Panettiere approached the biggest operator in the country to offload them. “I go to [them] and I say, ‘Do you want them?’” Panettiere said. The concreter respectfully said no. But with some true Italian spavalderia , Panettiere warned on the way out that he could become a competitor. “He slammed the door in my face and told me to get out. So I go to work.” Walking the talk That was perhaps an understatement. Panettiere hired the former employees of the collapsed Brisbane company and learnt everything he could about concreting, reaching a turning point when helping build the Skytower basement on Brisbane’s Margaret Street for Hutchinson Builders. “We lost money [on the job]. But it turned the business around, because the Tier 1 builders realised, this guy can actually concrete pump. Within three years, I was the number one concrete pumper on the Gold Coast and in Brisbane.” ▲ The former working-class riverside suburb of Newstead is one of the best for multi-res, Panettiere said. That hands-on construction experience gave Panettiere insight into builder operations that is more valuable now than ever. “My advice to everyone in this room is to go buy a pair of steel cap boots, because times have changed,” Panettiere said. “The days of sitting behind a desk managing trades are over.” Self-performing at Little Italy Panettiere continued to walk the talk, especially as construction prices continue to climb. “We’re starting to get prices that are ridiculous. Subbies are adding in all their overhead costs, putting 30 or 40 per cent margin on top, and also adding in clauses with escalation.” After receiving a $3 million quote for a four-level basement, self-performing the trades seemed not just logical but inevitable. Heading back to the auction house, Panettiere acquired six excavators, six truck and dogs, added a diesel mechanic to the ranks, and is on track to complete the dig for $1.5 million. Panettiere remains unfazed by labour challenges. ▲ Panettiere Property Group's dreams of an Italian-inspired piazza are even closer to fruition. “Everyone says to me, how are you going to get the guys? Easy, I’m going to pay them more than what they’re getting paid now, because at the end of the day, I don’t have to have margin on that trade. I can afford to pay these mid-Tier-1 rates. “And if you can self perform and hire directly, you’ll get your job done.” Panettiere and his family have sold their houses to live on site — a sign of just how much this project means to them. “The Italians have had a very strong influence in Brisbane. But for some strange reason, we’ve never had our own precinct—a place where you can have an espresso, a plate of pasta.” Soon, with the help of some steel toe caps, that will change.

Little Italy Rises: From Accidental Concreter to $1.5bn Precinct Play

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