John Dietz - Defence Housing Australia - Building better communities

Building better communities John Dietz, General Manager, Provisioning Group

DHA Building Better Communities

•  Meeting the Defence Need –  What, how, when and where

•  An Evolution of the Defence Housing Product –  Construction / Built Form –  Development / Urban Design

•  Opportunities –  Working with DHA

DHA Meeting the Defence Need

•  DHA managers ~18,000 dwellings –  Located throughout all states of Australia

•  We provide ~ 2,000 dwellings a year –  Houses, Townhouses, Integrated dwellings –  Apartments

•  Add new stock –  Development, Construct, Acquire, Direct Lease

•  Extend the life of existing stock –  Upgrade, Leases - option, renew and extend

DHA Meeting the Defence Need

•  Acquisition –  Relatively fast, flexible, lower risk/

low margin –  Failure in some markets to provide

what we need –  ~3 month time frame

•  Leasing –  Direct leasing similar to Acquisitions –  Little/ no capital outlay –  Low risk, little/ no margin

DHA Meeting the Defence Need

•  Construction –  Dependent on market for retail land –  Build what we need –  Less capital commitment, less risk,

lower return –  6 – 12 month time frame

•  Development –  Surety of supply –  Build a ‘community’ suitable for our

members –  Build what we need when we need it –  Big projects, big capital commitment,

higher risk, higher return –  Land sales ~70% –  3 – 10 year time frame

The DHA Product – Some Examples

An evolution of the DHA product – Built Form

An evolution of the DHA product – Built Form Concept House

An evolution of the DHA product – Built Form Tropical Design Guidelines

An evolution of the DHA product – Built Form Muirhead Designs

DHA - A unique opportunity to build better communities

Muirhead – Not just a better house, a better community

Muirhead – An award winning community Award winning homes in an award winning urban design

An evolution of the DHA product – Urban Design

•  Precincts –  Large, sometimes gated, housing divisions. On or off base –  Lacked integration beyond Defence community

•  Salt & Pepper –  Spread DHA product throughout the

community –  Usually between 30% - 50% takeout –  Civilian neighbours can be

disheartened by the transient nature of Defence personnel

–  Reduced support to Defence members from neighbours who understand the Defence community

An evolution of the DHA product – Urban Design

•  Clusters/ Pockets –  Groupings of 6-10 Defence

houses within larger urban areas

–  Shared amenity for Defence members

–  Better for those who appreciate the support of living within a Defence community but also like to be part of non Defence society

A  selec'on  of  differing  designs  is  required  for  members  with  differing  wants  and  needs  

An evolution of the DHA product – Urban Design

The Great Good Place “most needed are those ‘third places’ which lend a public balance to the increased privatisation of home life. Third places are nothing more than informal public gathering places. The phrase ‘third places’ derives from considering our homes to be the ‘first’ places in our lives and our work places the ‘second’” Ray Oldenbaug

Nothing beats good amenity able to provide informal social centres to foster community

Through  long-­‐term  benefit  to  its  members,  DHA  reaps  the  reward  for  good  amenity  more  than  most  other  developers  

DHA - A unique opportunity to build better communities

DHA - A unique opportunity to build better communities Crimson Hill

DHA - A unique opportunity to build better communities Bluewattle

DHA – Future innovation for better communities

•  Innovation in energy usage benefits community and saves Defence members money –  DHA have started discussions on Total Energy Planning

initiatives with EDQ (Economic Development Queensland) –  A holistic set of strategies to deliver:

1.  Energy costs reductions of 30% to 40% 2.  Sustained lower peak demand of 50% 3.  Lower infrastructure requirements for developers

and utilities –  Existing trials endorsed by the QLD Govt for EDQ

residential developments

DHA – Future innovation for better communities

•  Smart Dwellings –  House Design –  Materials: PCM –  Technology: Solar, Geothermal –  Home Energy Management Systems (HEMS)

•  Smart neighbourhoods/ centres –  Micro-grids

Opportunities – Working with DHA

•  Our Panels –  Consultancy Panel –  Builder Panel –  No panels for Civil Works or Major/Commercial Construction

•  Our Process –  Tendering –  Procurement Cycle

Opportunities – Working with DHA What’s on the horizon?

•  Civil Works tenders –  TODO Add upcoming Civil Works tenders

•  Construction tenders, –  TO DO: Add upcoming construction tenders

http://www.dha.gov.au/development/contractors/partner-with-us

Any  ques)ons?