Walking into their brand new club for the first time is a great experience for the club’s members. Doing it knowing there is ample cash in the bank supported by diversified revenue streams is even better. But how do you achieve the holy grail of club development without incurring huge risks?

We’ll get to the answer in a moment but first here’s a question for you. Would you sell your car for a price chosen only by listening to the first one or two people that make an offer? You’d probably say “Not a chance”. You would want full price for your car, not the price buyers try to get away with.

The same holds true for club property. Time and again we see clubs negotiate deals with developers without knowing the full value of their development potential, unwittingly gifting a developer millions of dollars in the process. This lack of all-important knowledge is the primary driver of the club property development disasters we have all heard of.

The good news is that based on our experience this scenario is completely avoidable. The key to maximising your outcome is to understand what your club’s development opportunity is worth to developers BEFORE you engage with any of them.

Additionally, there is often a significant gap between the developer’s knowledge and expertise and that of the club’s representatives. Developers cleverly use this information imbalance to take advantage of clubs.

In order to redress this imbalance, a club needs to have a well-planned property strategy that clarifies the development potential of their club’s property before even thinking about dealing with developers.

The frequency with which we come across these issues prompted us to develop a Club Property Strategy report designed to help clubs successfully negotiate their property challenges and achieve their goals including new club premises, cash in the bank, and diversified revenue sources.

For close to a decade our club property strategies have provided our clients with numerous benefits:

  • Clarifying the development potential of the club’s property ensuring the club understands the full value it has to work with.
  • A good strategy overcomes the single biggest and most costly mistake that clubs make of dealing with developers without being fully informed and thereby giving the developer a commercial advantage. A mistake that can literally cost a club millions of dollars. Having a properly prepared property strategy means that you have the same knowledge as a competent developer and your club can negotiate from a position of strength.
  • They greatly improve communication about property issues. They give the board and management the ability to communicate more effectively with each other and with the members about property plans and issues. An improved ability to communicate the merits of the board’s adopted strategy greatly increases the chances of support and acceptance by the members.
  • The report is based on our independent, expert assessment of a club’s property and is designed to find opportunities for upside for the club together with identifying hidden risks and providing ways of managing or eliminating them.
  • Significantly improving communication about property issues. A solid strategy provides the board and management with the ability to communicate more effectively with each other and with the members about property plans and issues. An improved ability to communicate the merits of the board’s adopted strategy greatly increases the chances of support and acceptance by the members.
  • In short, a good strategy can make or save your club millions of dollars, making an obvious case for investing in a club property strategy.

To learn more about how our club property strategies can help your club maximise your property development return and minimise risk please contact us on 02 9966 8898.