Reclining on a sun-drenched lounge set against the backdrop of the city he knows all too well, Bob Winnel envisions how he will spend his time when he retires as managing director of the Village Building Company next year.
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The date is set and the best-laid plans are in motion, with Mr Winnel's replacement having started two months ago to learn the ropes. Mr Winnel will officially step down on July 23, 2016, after 28 years at the helm.
He has been waiting for his final project - the biggest challenge of his career – to come to fruition. South Tralee will have been 15 years in the making, and Mr Winnel has high hopes the project will be in the construction phase when he departs.
He is the last founding member of the company, which was established in 1988 to secure land supply for a group of about 12 local builders.
"When we first started, the government did all land development.There had been a severe downturn and they decided to get out of it and privatise it," Mr Winnel said.
"We had a lot of builders who were well-established locally and we formed the then MBA Land, that was our initial name."
As more builders approached Mr Winnel to buy land, the business advanced into a professional land development company supplying the broader market.
In later years as competition increased in Canberra, the company started developing lots and building on them. Village Building Company expanded to Wollongong and Brisbane in 1991, followed by Coffs Harbour in 2005 and Sydney about three years ago.
"With a number of players in the market there was less land. We kept our level of work by building as well as developing," Mr Winnel said.
"We've developed about 14,000 lots in the ACT, including about 3000 homes."
With a focus on supplying the market with affordable housing, Mr Winnel said in recent years he had been disappointed with the ACT government's approach to land development.
"At the moment there is not a great role for us in Canberra because we operate more at the affordable end of the market. There has been a gap and we're disappointed that the ACT government doesn't seem to be giving it any priority."
"If you look at the bank lending requirements and the income to support it, we're ignoring close to 20 per cent of the market in the sense that we're only allowing them one and two bedroom dwellings," Mr Winnel said.
"We think the government should have kept a better focus on affordable housing."
Mr Winnel said the blame lands firmly at the feet of the ACT government's Land Development Agency.
"I have a view that the government is no more competent to be the best way of delivering bitumen, curbs, gutters, pipes and wires, no more competent to do that than to produce fridges, shoes or cars. And we would never contemplate [that]."
While he believes the government should define process, protect the environment and protect the population from substandard work, he said the role of the private sector was to drive efficient outcomes.
"Canberra is the only place that I know of that thinks the government is better to produce land … this is the only place where they dominate it, where they have a monopoly.
"They're growing a vast commercial, monopolistic empire… we will find a way of keeping our work going but the people who pay for it are young people buying their first home."
ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr said the LDA would continue to release land that caters for all segments of the market.
"As part of the Land Release Program the LDA released nearly 19,000 dwelling sites since 2010/11," he said.
Mr Barr said the Village Building Company had successfully purchased 2652 of these dwelling sites.
On hearing of Mr Winnel's retirement, Mr Barr said he had been a "very strong advocate" for residential builders through his association with the Master Builders Association of the ACT and the Property Council.
"Mr Winnel and the Village Building Company have played a significant role in the residential housing market in Canberra for many decades," Mr Barr said.
In response to the planned development at South Tralee he said, "It is pleasing to see the growth of the housing market in the region."
Mr Winnel said he respected the current Chief Minister's co-operation at a regional level, especially in ways of solving cross-border issues at South Tralee.
When the company originally purchased the land near Jerrabomberra it was slated as the next corridor for development in the region, and Village Building had a view to build affordable housing close to Canberra.
After 14 years and having spent $32 million without any actual on-the-ground construction, Mr Winnel said the end result would be less affordable than the planned outcome.
Mr Winnel said in the early 90s the ACT government made it clear they would take over land development, so to secure their future in the industry the company purchased by tender their first block at Tralee.
"It's been quite an expensive process because of the all the to-ing and fro-ing with governments… the time that it has taken has dramatically increased the cost of the project," Mr Winnel said.
The development was mired in controversy from the outset, with vehement opposition from the Canberra Airport and lack of support from the ACT and federal governments due to the siting of the development beneath - but outside - the Australian Noise Exposure Forecast.
In 2012 the land was rezoned, and the following year a peace deal was brokered with the airport. Yet the company is still working with the Queanbeyan City Council to get development applications approved.
As the detailed development applications reach their final approvals, Mr Winnel said he's starting to contemplate the opportunities retirement will allow.
"When you're doing this it's a pretty full on kind of existence," he said.
"Being responsible for a business means going home when the problems are solved, you don't go home when you reach a certain time of day."
Mr Winnel said he's looking forward to spending more time with his five children and grandchildren, as well as improving his ailing health.
He will remain in Canberra, as will his legacy of providing affordable housing in an otherwise tight residential market.
"Where we've had an impact is on producing housing that is more affordable than if our company was not in the game," he said.
"I've always believed in affordability and the right of young people to own a home, and that should extend to people on lower incomes.
"One of the good things about growing up in Australia is the stability of being in a family home that is owned … I think the home ownership thing that we've worked on is a very important part of the fabric of Australian life."
Property Council of Australia residential executive director Nicholas Proud said Mr Winnel's contribution to the industry was well recognised.
"It is hard to imagine Bob actually retiring, however it is expected that he will continue to be a passionate advocate for improving our cities and building stronger communities for a long time to come," he said.
