Articles
Property Person of the Year 2009 | Mr Harry Triguboff AO
Date: Wednesday 4 November 2009
Venue : Hilton Sydney
Speaker: The NSW Premier, the Hon. Nathan Rees MP
Winner: Mr Harry Triguboff AO, Managing Director, Meriton Apartments Pty Limited
The Property Person of the Year recognises an impressive community leader who has played a major part in helping build Australia. The 2009 Property Person of the Year award was presented by the NSW Premier , the Hon Nathan Rees MP to Mr Harry Triguboff AO, Managing Director, Meriton Apartments Pty Limited at a charity fundraising dinner in aid of the Warrah Disability Services and St. Vincents Prostate Cancer Centre.
Winner of the Property Person of the Year 2009
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Mr Harry Triguboff AO Harry Triguboff, Managing Director of Meriton has been named Property Person of the Year 2009 by the Urban Taskforce.
The Urban Taskforces chief executive, Aaron Gadiel, said that Mr Triguboff has helped shape Australia with billions of dollars of development.
Mr Harry Triguboff came to Australia at the age of fourteen. He drove a taxi and set up a milk run to finance his first property venue, a block of units that he built in 1963. |
 The Hon. Nathan Rees, Premier of NSW
presenting the Property Person of the Year 2009 Award to Mr Harry Triguboff AO, Managing Director, Meriton Apartments Pty Limited |
His company is now the nations largest multi-unit home builder with work starting on 1,800 new Meriton homes in 2008/2009. Mr Triguboff has been responsible for the construction of 50,000 new homes over the past 47 years. Mr Triguboffs projects provide high quality living at affordable prices. His developments are well known for their recreational amenities such as swimming pools, gymnasiums and tennis courts.
Even during the global financial crisis Harry Triguboffs business has remained strong continuing to provide jobs, economic activity and affordable housing. Recent business highlights include Meriton's purchase from Babcock and Brown/Payce of the largest remaining parcel of the Victoria Park site in Zetland, for $109 million. Meriton estimates that this site, together with other recent acquisitions from companies such as Mirvac, Stockland and weLive, will provide the foundation for at least another decade of construction and development opportunity.
Meriton has also completed the final stages of its Crown Square redevelopment on the former ACI glassworks site in Waterloo in Sydneys eastern suburbs, which now boasts some 2,650 apartments, integrated communal parkland, numerous meticulously restored heritage components and a brand new shopping centre.
While Mr Triguboffs business has traditionally focused on Sydney, he has now expanded into the Brisbane property market. In fact, in the midst of the global financial crisis he is the only developer to commence construction on not one, but two high-rise residential apartment towers. The first, ˜Soleil in Adelaide Street, will be Brisbane's tallest building standing 234 metres, containing some 464 apartments. However it won't be the tallest for long, because Meriton has just received approval to construct a second 236 metre tower, containing 568 apartments.
Meriton has also continued to develop the highly successful "Brighton on Broadwater" precinct on the site of the former Sundale shopping centre in Southport on the Gold Coast. Also on the Gold Coast, Meriton has launched the latest of its highly successful serviced apartment properties, containing nearly 200 apartments at Broadbeach. This increases Meriton's portfolio of serviced apartments' to 1,400 dwellings.
On top of this Meriton continues to provide long term rental accommodation across a portfolio of some 2,500 apartments - the vast majority of which are owned by Meriton - making it Australia's largest private provider of housing. Remarkably, all of this has been achieved without the resort to debt, without any joint venture partners and, in many cases, without pre-sales.
Mr Triguboff is committed to supporting and funding significant philanthropic interests including the Colorectal Cancer Fund Research Fellowship and the Sydney National Cancer Foundation. He has funded extensive medical research including St Vincents Hospital for research into arthritis, the Heart Research Institute for research into anti-inflammatory drugs, the Murdoch Institute for research into the early diagnosis of childhood diseases and also research into breast cancer. He is also a major benefactor of many schools and other charities in Sydney.
Mr Triguboff is the first person to win the Property Person of the Year award twice he first won the award in 2003. He was made an Australian Member of the Office of the Order of Australia in 1990.
The Property Person of the Year Award, now in its 7th year, will be presented to Mr Triguboff at a gala charity dinner on Wednesday November 4, 2009. Proceeds will be donated to Warrah Disability Services and St Vincents Prostate Cancer Clinic. In the past this award and event has raised $1.4 million for charitable causes.
 David Koch MC - Property Person
of the Year 2009 |
 Noel Hemmings QC, Chairman - Urban Taskforce Australia
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 Pat Tierney, Chairman - Warrah
Disability Services |
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 Harry Triguboff AO accepting the honour of Property Person of the Year 2008
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 Dr David Ende, of St. Vincent's
Prostate Cancer Centre |
 David Koch interviewing Harry Triguboff AO
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Past winners include:
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| For more information about the Property Person of the Year 2009 Award please contact the Urban Taskforce on (02) 9238 3955 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. |
