After notching up a combined 40 years working in roles right across the Australian property industry, brothers Fayad Fayad and Remon Fayad have fulfilled a long-held ambition of branching out on their own.
This vision has been realised in 2020 with their new venture, Ellerson Property, which will build upon their combined talents to create a new style of property business.
Launched in September as a development group with a focus on creating premier residential, retail and commercial property in the Fayads’ hometown market of Sydney and beyond.
Fayad Fayad said Ellerson Property is a different proposition compared to other property development companies.
“We don’t view Ellerson Property as a traditional property developer, but more as a ‘property development agency’ with its own pipeline of projects.
“This means Ellerson is effectively set up with the aim that each department—from planning, to sales and property management— will in time become its own business within the wider business, ” Fayad said.
“This helps nurture the individual styles of each discipline while maintaining the common objective of Ellerson Property, with the agency model allowing us to put more robust reporting and internal processes in place.”
Based in Parramatta, in the heart of Sydney’s growing second CBD, Ellerson Property is not yet a familiar name, but the Fayad brothers said this won’t last long.
“Although we’re a new brand, we have the benefit of credentialed experience on our team.
“We very much have an eye on the future of property development, and we envisage that the combination of our experience and our agency model will help us achieve cut-through in the marketplace, allowing us to become market leaders in a relatively short space of time ,” Remon Fayad said.
“Another benefit of our approach is that for future employees, we believe it will help break down any perceived stigmas about working directly for a developer, and in doing so attract a different type of property professional to join Ellerson.”
On this front, Ellerson Property is seeking to recruit some of the brightest young talent in the industry, as they seek to instil an agile and fresh-faced professional culture.
“We are targeting young professionals in the 24-40 age bracket, who will drive excitement and energy levels across the business, and will also be attracted to the opportunities for growth and personal development Ellerson will provide.
“We view Ellerson as a property collective, where everyone has a voice, and everyone contributes to the end outcome,” Fayad Fayad said.
“If you were to close your eyes and envisage Ellerson in action, you would see a group of like-minded property professionals gathered in a workshop around a bench showcasing a model of our next project—as it is being designed, created and marketed for the world outside.
“It is our belief that this collaborative approach will help to create a generation of visionaries and problem-solvers that will keep both Ellerson Property, and by default the wider industry, resilient.”
The company is also seeking to embrace the learnings that have emerged from the Covid-19 pandemic, including a more mobile workforce.
“In the past, there was a mindset that ‘if you’re not at your desk, you’re not working’, but what Covid has taught us is that remote working arrangements can be highly successful.
“As such, we won’t be disregarding what we’ve learned over the last six months, but rather embracing a new way of working that meets today’s needs—our view is that even if a concept is not seen as traditional, if it works, then it’s worth pursuing,” Fayad Fayad said.
“This includes incorporating online meetings into our way of doing business—not just as a Covid response—and also establishing technology-based solutions such as individual WhatsApp groups for our teams.
“This not only reduces the need for face-to-face meetings, but it also speeds up decision-making and internal processes because our team members don’t have to wait for the next meeting before discussing an idea.
By advocating a less hierarchical structure and placing trust in team members to make decisions, Fayad Fayad said staff are allowed the freedom to pursue concepts.
“As a result, by the time our weekly project meetings roll around, our team is able to present fully-formed ideas for approval and implementation.”
The company also plans to take a positive stance on the health and wellbeing of employees through access to wellness programmes and self-improvement classes on topics they are passionate about.
Ellerson will engage motivational speakers, conduct team bonding exercises and even host yoga classes on their sizeable office balcony, or online, for the benefit of employees.
“We’re introducing mindfulness across every level of the business, and analysing the team impacts of every decision before we make it,” Remon Fayad said.
“For instance, we have taken a minimalist approach to our office fitout—rather than filling every inch of floor space from day one, we have decided to incorporate only those items we need, as and when we need them, to ensure everything serves a purpose.
“Also, as with most new office establishments, we were recently contacted by a vending machine supplier who wanted to service our new office.
“The typical reaction—without too much thought process—would be to just accept it and move on, but in this instance we stopped to ask what sort of foods we wanted to include in the machine, as we are conscious of the health impacts of introducing unhealthy food into our workplace.
Remon Fayad said that ultimately the aim is to inspire and motivate team members through leadership and the choices the brothers make for the business.
“For me, LeBron James is a big inspiration, so we’ve just commissioned an artist to create a full wall mural that incorporates LeBron’s quote ‘No matter how good one individual is, it takes a whole team to win a championship’ as a bit of a guiding principle.
“This really sums up the Ellerson Property philosophy.”
To find out more about Ellerson Property, or to enquire about a role with one of Australia’s brightest new developers, please visit www.ellersonproperty.com.au.
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