Large property development projects have unique challenges, but some of them are familiar to what can happen on projects of any size. I'm talking with someone who has experience with projects that range in size and sector. As I record this episode, Melbourne has started stage 4 lockdowns to prevent the spread of COVID19, which means many businesses are closed and movement is severely restricted. So the kids are home from school and we don’t get to go out much. This certainly has been a strange year, and I hope you are managing to negotiate it as best you can. Fortunately, it looks like the residential construction sector will still be able to operate although at much lower levels which means work should continue on my site, but perhaps at a slower rate. I’m still waiting to find out exactly what it means from the builder. Otherwise, we had been making reasonable progress on site with earthworks underway to prepare the levels for the drains and foundations. I've posted a video update on Facebook and Insta if you want to check out how things are progressing. We have been having some issues with wet soil due to winter weather and that has slowed things down a little, but we will work through that. Not much to report on my other project as we continue to work through the construction documentation. "It doesn't matter what size the project is, each line item will have some risk associated with it." Don’t forget that if you are interested in learning how to develop, we have the mentoring program that is available to guide you through the development process and help you develop safely and profitably, email me, [email protected] if you want to find out more. And thanks to the people that have sent me some amazing emails over the past few weeks thanking me for producing the show, I am very grateful for your support and I really appreciate you taking the time to let me know. And thank you for listening in. Without you there would be no point to the podcast. We’ve still got so much ground to cover with the show so keep listening as we learn the lessons from people across the industry. Today's guest - James Paver from Avenor Okay, on to today’s guest, James Paver from Avenor. Avenor is an Australian property development, investment and services firm with expertise in the initiation and delivery of commercial, residential and major mixed-use projects across the country. James and his team have worked on a range of deals, large and small, so he brings insight into what makes a successful project, along with the lessons learnt from getting projects started and completed. In this conversation we cover the importance of community engagement, what to do when things don't go to plan and what large and small projects have in common. Keep an ear out for what James thinks that smaller projects can learn from larger ones. I think you will enjoy this conversation and I started off by asking James what food he would eat until he was sick... Lessons for property developers I hope you enjoyed that chat with James. It just goes to show that it doesn't matter what size project you are working on, many of the challenges and issues are the same. Here's a couple of things I took away from my conversation 1. Expect challenges no matter the size of the development project It seems that it doesn't matter what size project you work on, whether it is a 45 story tower or a 4 unit townhouse development, you can expect to face challenges getting a planning permit. Many issues seem to be universal like dealing with mercurial councils, local objectors and the shifting sands of property markets. 2. Identify and manage your risk One comment that James made is that it doesn't matter whether it is...