Alfonso del Rio sets the standard for real estate lawyers.
A five-time Solicitor of the Year award recipient and Hall of Fame inductee by the Real Estate Institute of the ACT, he is the industry expert in real estate law, planning and environmental law, construction law, transaction structuring and project financing.
With a renowned understanding of property issues from both the public and private sector perspective, he can deliver innovative commercial solutions on any complex development project within compressed timeframes.
Expertise
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Real Estate
- CIC Australia (CIC): Alfonso has advised this ASX listed company on its significant development projects and joint ventures throughout Australia. His work has included drafting and negotiating a full range of acquisition and ancillary documentation (including contracts for sale, joint ventures, option deeds and licences). Recent projects include:
- "Googong", a self-contained township near Queanbeyan that will eventually house around 5500 homes;
- "Crace", a new suburb in Gungahlin developed in joint venture with the Land Development Agency, Defence Housing Authority and others, of approximately 1,100 dwellings;
- "Forde", a new suburb in Gungahlin developed in joint venture with Lend Lease Communities and the Land Development Agency; and
- "Eastern Industrial Estate", a new industrial suburb of 135 blocks.
- Land Development Agency: The agency called on Alfonso for disposal of sites in Kingston Foreshore – a 37 hectare site generating approximately 230,000m2 of mixed use development including the sale of land on an artificial island, adjacent to a harbour in Lake Burley Griffin. He was also appointed to advise on the sale of over 300 individual blocks of land in Wright, the first suburb in the new town centre of Molonglo.
- Lend Lease & Macquarie Bank: Advising on a joint venture, Alfonso is acting in the development of a new residential community development in Casey consisting of over 800 blocks of land.
- Amalgamated Property Group: Alfonso advises it on its commercial and residential developments. Recent projects include:
- a purpose-built 25,000 m2 office for the Commonwealth Department of Human Services with an 18-year lease term in Greenway;
- "Manhattan", a 332 predominantly residential unit development;
- "Lakefront", a 145 unit residential development on the Kingston Foreshore island; and
- acquisition of the Canberra Brumbies' former head office and adjoining lawn bowls club.
- Doma Group: Alfonso is acting on the commercial and residential developments of this developer. Recent projects include:
- A purpose-built 9,500 sqm office for the Commonwealth Department of Human Services with a 15-year lease term;
- the Realm Precinct (a staged multi-use development including two hotels and over 250 residential units); and
- "Bridgepoint" and "Dockside", 45 unit residential and 139 unit mixed-use developments on Kingston Foreshore.
- Hindmarsh Group: Alfonso acts for this development group whose recent projects include:
- "Altitude", a mainly residential 352 unit development;
- "Avoca", a 179 residential unit development in a joint venture with the Land Development Agency (LDA);
- "Sorell", a 132 residential unit development in a joint venture with the Commissioner for Social Housing;
- acquisition of LDA's interest in Woden Green; and
- "Creswell", a mainly residential 56 unit development.
- Molongo Group: Alfonso acts for this developer with respect to its development of the New Acton precinct, including:
- "New Acton East": lease to Australian Consumer and Competitor Commission for 15 years plus options and sale of residential units;
- "New Acton South": joint venture agreement with Macquarie Bank;
- "New Acton Heritage": acted on the lease to Diamant Hotel and various planning and heritage issues;
- "New Acton Nishi": residential 220 unit residential development and joint venture arrangements with Sydney based private equity group;
- "New Acton Commercial": 20,000 sqm commercial development.
- Construction Control: Alfonso is acting for this builder and developer with respect to its development projects. Recent projects include:
- "Mode 3", a 145 mixed use unit development in joint venture with existing land owners and partitioning and restructure following completion of the development;
- "Base 241", a 75 mainly residential unit development; and
- "Casey 4", a 250 residential block subdivision in joint venture with Koundouris Group.
- GRT Group: Alfonso acts or this diverse hotel, materials supply and development group. Recent projects include "Astin, a 150 unit residential development and "Arte", a 70 unit mixed use development.
- Walker Corporation: Alfonso acts on ACT projects for this national developer. He has advised on the acquisition, development and agreement for lease to Department of Education/Employment (formerly DEEWR) of 50 Marcus Clarke St, a purpose built 40,000 sqm building which was sold for over $225 million, and Monaro Industrial Park, a 30 hectare industrial park in Hume.
See Real Estate
Environment and Sustainable Development
- Molonglo Group Pty Limited: New Acton Precinct: Alfonso advised on the Group's redevelopment of the former Hotel Acton site. This included redevelopment of heritage listed buildings and construction of new mixed use (commercial and residential) buildings into a 5 star boutique hotel.
- Oasis Leisure and Medical Centre: Alfonso acted in a proposal to collapse an existing units plan, with the intention of dividing and registering a new units plan over part of the land. This involved preparation of Supreme Court application and supporting affidavits, agreement with all existing unit owners and dealing with taxation and stamp duty issues.
- Pialligo: Alfonso acted on a number of developments in this Canberra suburb. This included structuring and use of company title to provide for exclusive use and restrictions on permitted development. He also successfully ran planning appeals to ACAT against decisions of ACTPLA.
- Canberra Rex: Acted in the successful appeal to ACAT against the decision of ACT Heritage Council to list the mosaic mural as a heritage place.
- Canberra Tradesmen's Union Club: Alfonso acts for this well-known club on its planning and property matters. He is currently exploring the full range of re-development options for the Dickson and Phillip club sites, including negotiations with ACT Government authorities.
See Environment and Sustainable Development
Banking and Finance
- Westpac: For over 25 years, Westpac Banking Corporation (and its predecessors including St George Bank, the Canberra Building Society and Canberra Advance Bank) have relied on Alfonso for most of its major and/or complex transactions.
- ANZ Banking Group: Acting for ANZ in a range of large commercial finance and construction finance matters, Alfonso has drafted loan and security documents, carried out property due diligence, vetted pre-sale contracts, reviewed commercial structures and constituent documents and attended settlement and registration of all securities. Alfonso has acted for ANZ on funding for various large scale residential and mixed-use development projects.
- National Australia Bank: Alfonso has acted for NAB in a range of commercial financing matters. He has drafted and negotiated deeds of priority with other external lenders, reviewed and advised on corporate letters of offer and terms of finance facilities, vetted pre-sales contracts and advised on borrowers' corporate structures.
See Banking and Finance
Construction and Major Projects
- Department of the Environment (formerly Department of Climate Change): Alfonso advised on a 12,250m2 agreement for lease for 15 years plus options in the greenest building to be built in Canberra. The building features the largest array of photovoltaic cells on a single building as at the time of construction.
- Health: Alfonso acted on a $150 million 2009/2010 Accommodation Project, delivered via an agreement for lease for approximately 40,000 m2 of new purpose-built accommodation.
- Construction contracts: Because of his extensive development, planning and finance expertise Alfonso regularly drafts and reviews a wide range of construction contracts including Australian Standards and other standard form contracts as well as bespoke delivery agreements.
See Construction and Major Projects