David Blackburn

Autorecyclers — advised on the $68 million sale of 57-69 Tattersall Road, Kings Park.

Atlassian — acting for Atlassian since 2016 in respect of its ongoing substantial office leasing footprint in George Street, Sydney. The footprint includes 363 George Street, 345 George Street and 24 York Street.

Bega Cheese Limited — advised Bega on its $115 million sale and leaseback of its Vegemite Factory in Port Melbourne to Charter Hall.

Colgate — sale of 22.16ha industrial site at Captain Cook Drive, Arundel, Qld.

Dairy Farmers — acted on the aggregation of Australian Cooperative Food Limited, Queensco Unity Dairy Foods, Malanda Dairy Foods and Dairy Vale Limited and its ultimate disposal to Lion Dairy & Drinks.

Fairfax — sale of “Elaine” at Double Bay for a national household price record of more than $70 million

Fairglen Farms — acted for Fairglen Farms (owned by the Fairfax family) on its strategic aggregation investments in large scale broiler chicken farms in New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Queensland and Western Australia.

LEDA Group — acted on the provision of acquisition and construction financing for multiple residential development sites in Sydney’s North West.

Macquarie Group — acted on the acquisition of a major portfolio of livestock and cropping properties across Australia from the QATAR Investment Authority (this was the largest agricultural transaction in Australia since 2016), the $120 million acquisition of Cowal Agriculture (a central QLD cropping enterprise, which included six farms across nearly 6000 hectares) and the divestment of Lawson Grains, one of Australia’s leading grain growing businesses with over 90,000 hectares of agricultural land across New South Wales and Western Australia.

Macquarie University — the retail leasing at the University’s Central Courtyard Precinct, which opened in 2021, $39 million acquisition of 3 Innovation Road, Macquarie Park, and $80 million sale of “Parklands”, 137-143 Herring Road, Macquarie Park.

Merivale — acting as a long-term adviser for Merivale, including its major acquisitions in regional NSW and Victoria; such as The Newport Arms, Coogee Pavilion, The Duke of Gloucester, Tennyson Hotel, Collaroy Hotel, Vick On The Park, Royal Bondi, Centennial Hotel, Bridge Street, Nortons on Norton, 3 Weeds Rozelle, The Quarterdeck, Surf Beach Holiday Park, Whale Inn, The Inlet in Narooma, Tomasetti House, Lorne Hotel in Melbourne, and Cheeky Monkey’s in Byron Bay. David also advised on Merivale’s acquisition of 312-318 George Street, Sydney, its acquisition of Kings Green, Sydney (being an aggregation site of over 80 titles for $200 million) and acted for the proponent in respect of two strata renewal proposals under Part 10 of the Strata Schemes Development Act 2015 NSW.

Moss — advised on the $116 million sale of 458-472 George Street, Sydney.

Mulpha — advised on various property related projects including the development of Sydney Opera House Carpark (the first PPP in NSW) (long term leasehold), the acquisition (and development) of Sanctuary Cove, Qld (Australia’s leading resort style master plan gated community), the disposal of Novotel Darling Harbour, NSW (long term leasehold) and the sale of premium ultra high-end residences on Hayman Island (complicated structuring required due to Crown leasehold title).

NRMA — advised NRMA on its acquisition of RACT’s tourism portfolio of hotels and marine tourism services, including Freycinet Lodge, Cradle Mountain Hotel and Gordon River Cruises in Tasmania.

Paraway Pastoral Company — acted on the $74 million acquisition of “Newstead” and “Paradise” in New England region, New South Wales.

Strathfield Hotel — acted on the sale of the Strathfield Hotel to Sam Arnout’s Iris Capital by the Whelan family which had owned the hotel for in excess of 100 years.

The Lennox — acted for a joint venture partner and financier of the development known as The Lennox, comprising 47 storeys, 441 apartments and a retail precinct located in Parramatta, Sydney.