In profile: CBRE commercial property specialist Peter Vines

Peter Vines tells Property Observer he has noticed an increasing rezoning of industrial property to residential for redevelopment into apartments and townhouses. Consequently, he would invest a spare $750,000 in a small warehouse around the inner west or south Sydney and wait for re-zoning.

How long have you been in the industry?

I have worked in real estate both residential and commercial in Sydney, London and Paris for over 13 years.

What’s happening in the area you specialise in?

Several things are happening, but of interest is the increasing rezoning of  industrial property to residential for redevelopment into apartments and townhouses. This will continue to happen, with industrial users needing cheaper rents to satisfy consumer demand and also an increase in the value of residential property due to a lack of housing in the inner west and western Sydney. Also an increase in the level of community, religious and education groups needing to buy large properties to occupy in order for them to realise their mandate of caring for and educating an ever-increasing population.

Describe the most interesting property you have sold.

We were involved in selling a school on behalf of Ernst & Young at the beginning of the year which was purchased by the Department of Education. We also have recently sold a large  eight-hectare industrial facility on behalf of Pacific Brands, which is going through rezoning to residential at the moment. It was huge and had some really cool industrial style heritage buildings on it that will be retained and converted.

What are the ingredients to being successful in your job?

It is quite simple: persistence and resilience. You need to constantly be talking to people and following up and then you need to be able to get back up and keep going when things go wrong.

What aspects of your role do you enjoy the most?

I love every part of my job. I love the diverse nature of the assets we work on. I cover all sectors of the market, we sell schools, shopping centres, development sites, aged-care facilities, office buildings, places of worship, retreats and the list goes on. This enables me to be more creative and think outside the box when marketing a property and looking at alternate potential uses, which is extremely important when dealing with “complex/difficult assets” like we so often do. We often sell large parcels of land and vacant buildings where there could be several uses.

Where would invest a spare $750,000? 

Probably in a small warehouse around the inner west or south Sydney and wait for rezoning

Which football team do you support?

The Bunnies, Manly and the Waratahs

What’s your favourite app or techno gadget?

My iPhone has changed my life, I have everything in the palm of my hand and can work from anywhere at any time while listening to music. My favourite app at the moment is Everguide: It is a guide to all music, entertainment and arts and culture happenings around Sydney.

How do you use social media?

I have a LinkedIn account, which is linked to my Twitter account. I regularly post up our new listings and then the results of the property deal. I have over 500 connections on LinkedIn and use it as a way of finding useful contacts. CBRE also posts videos on YouTube of properties that we are selling.