Vanessa Beggs

Head of Property Strategy
Commonwealth Bank of Australia

Vanessa is the Head of Property Strategy and Programs for the Commonwealth Bank Group, responsible for developing accommodation strategies for the Group and providing program governance during the implementation of the agreed strategies.

Vanessa has extensive experience working in large organisations, focussing on all facets of Corporate Real Estate, but also incorporating diverse experience spanning a number of fields including: change communications; relationship management; HR policy development; financial analysis and employee engagement programs.

Vanessa established the Program Management Office for the Sydney Olympic Park project and led the workstreams that supported the Commonwealth Bank’s employee through the relocation including the HR, Transport, Communication & Engagement.

Con Loukaitis

Precinct Services Manager
Commonwealth Bank of Australia

Con is the Precinct Services Manager for the Commonwealth Bank’s Sydney Olympic Park precinct.  He is the primary point of responsibility for all maintenance and building operation functions and resources relating to precinct,  ensuring best practice service delivery and end-to-end management for all precinct facilities management functions and operations.

Con has implemented sustainability initiatives to reduce energy consumption, and  ensures operational and maintenance management of the precinct in accordance to guidelines and requirements, including maintaining Green Star and Nabers ratings.

Con has 12 years of facilities management experience ranging from commercial buildings to industrial sites, and has extensive knowledge and experience in electrical systems including generators, uninterrupted power supplies, lighting systems and building management and control systems.

Neil Johanson

Principal
Davenport Campbell

Neill is a Principal of Davenport Campbell and has spent the last 20 years supporting organisations with their property and workplace needs.

For the past 4 years he has been working with Bovis Lend Lease and the CBA at Sydney Olympic Park to develop a 3 building campus environment to align the Bank's cultural, operational and business requirements.

Critical to the success of every project has been meeting mutually agreed KPI's, positively communicating change and cost effectiveness

Neill has undertaken similar assignments for Telstra, AMEX and Alcatel/Lucent.

Despina Katsikakis

Chairman
DEGW Group 

An architect by profession, Despina's primary specialty lies in working with occupiers and developers to deliver innovative real estate solutions that enhance business performance. Since joining DEGW in 1985, she has been instrumental in establishing DEGW offices in North America and Asia Pacific. She has also developed relationships with key global clients including Accenture, BBC, Deutsche Bank, Lend Lease, Nokia, and GlaxoSmithKline. Despina is chairman for the global DEGW group, providing strategic direction for its ongoing development. She lectures regularly across Europe, North America, and Asia Pacific.

Real Estate Resiliency – CRE Responses to Global Change

Despina will review the impact of the global financial crisis on Corporate Real Estate thinking across Europe, North America and Asia and will overview the strategies that are being adopted by leading corporations in response to this in the context of:

• Attitudes to current space occupation and workplace strategies
• Forward planning in the acquisition or disposal of space - location, type and tenure
• Emerging workplace models
• Sustainability
  

Jennifer Saiz

Head of Design and Construction
Commonwealth Bank of Australia

Jennifer is the Head of Design and Construction for Commonwealth Bank.  Jennifer is an environmental engineer with significant experience in the construction industry, both in the USA and Australia. 

During her time with CBA, Jennifer has been involved with full developments and large scale fitouts and has led a wide range of projects for the Bank in both commercial and retail portfolios.  In these portfolios, Jennifer’s team is responsible for the Bank’s workplace brief, design, construction and all relocation activities.  Some of her major projects include developments such as 101 George St, 2,4 and 10 Dawn Fraser at Sydney Olympic Park Campus, Darling Park, Darling Walk and Norwest Data Centre.

Greg Smith

Grant Samuel

Greg is the divisional director responsible for Grant Samuel’s corporate real estate advisory teams in Australia.

He has more than 25 years experience in real estate investment including property management, valuation, leasing sales and advisory services.  He was one of the key initiators of tenant representation in the Australian market and has become recognised as the market leader in this field.

In 1988 he established Lombard Smith, a firm specialising in tenant representation and advisory services, before joining Grant Samuel in 1994.

The impact of the Global Financial Crisis on Financial Services Tenants
 
The commercial property market is experiencing significant change as a result of the financial crisis. The funding market is shallower and has been repriced, and REITs have been under significant pressure to recapitalise. In practical terms this has stalled forecast supply.  At the same time, existing premium stock is becoming obsolete and failing to meet the requirements of financial services grade tenants.  How these factors impact the timing, delivery and pricing of tenant requirements is the key theme for this discussion presented by Grant Samuel.

Nigel Steffensen

Grant Samuel
 
Nigel Steffensen joined Grant Samuel in 2006 to establish Grant Samuel Asset Finance. Since that  time he has been involved in a number of projects ranging from the financing of mining fleets to offshore construction vessels, logistics assets and high value commercial fitout. 
More recently Nigel has focused on the Corporate Real Estate market applying his experience of institutional funding to the supply and demand dynamics of commercial office space. This viewpoint from a tenant’s perspective is applied to strategic reviews, cost analysis and tactical market engagements.

Nigel previously worked for eight years with Macquarie Bank, in the Capital division of the Investment Banking Group. 

The impact of the Global Financial Crisis on Financial Services Tenants
 
The commercial property market is experiencing significant change as a result of the financial crisis. The funding market is shallower and has been repriced, and REITs have been under significant pressure to recapitalise. In practical terms this has stalled forecast supply.  At the same time, existing premium stock is becoming obsolete and failing to meet the requirements of financial services grade tenants.  How these factors impact the timing, delivery and pricing of tenant requirements is the key theme for this discussion presented by Grant Samuel.