6.15 AM

Alarm sounds – time to get up, iron my shirt, eat some cereal and pack my lunch for the day.

7.30 AM

I’m out the door on my bike to work. The journey takes 20 minutes and is mostly downhill. If it was raining I’d take the train to Redfern and walk to the office. At the office end of trip facility, I shower and get changed out of my sport gear and into my work clothes. I’ve left my boots and trousers in my locker overnight and brought my shirt in my backpack.

8.15 AM

I arrive at my desk and start the day by reading Mirvac news mentions and property industry subscription emails. This sparks a conversation with my project team who I sit with about a new development that has been approved in the Sydney CBD. After this, I look through several unread emails that have come through overnight from some consultants engaged on my project, only a couple need replying. I then grab my notepad which I use every day for general notes and in meetings and title the day and write my ‘To Do List’ for the day, this will include the times of meetings that are on today, items and emails to follow up on, invoices to process and also my ‘Work in Progress’ items that I’ll need to put some extra time toward today.

9.00 AM

My first meeting today is with my project’s construction team and my manager, the Development Manager of the project. The topic of discussion for this meeting is a high-risk construction item that has required us to meet up fortnightly and update the team on design progress. The Project Manager runs the meeting and works through a list of items that must be reported on this week. My role is to report on the status of various items that I have been assigned, this has required some phone calls to government authorities and advice from another Project Manager with civil construction knowledge during the week. At the end of the meeting, the minutes are released and I receive some further actions to be reported on in a fortnight.

10.00 AM

I am back at my desk and my team have received details of a draft leasing proposal from a retail tenant within the new development. I get up the project feasibility and plug in some new numbers for rent per sqm and incentives and we assess how this impacts upon our key financial metrics for the project. Although only a quick analysis we can still provide our findings to our leasing team with advice on whether this deal adds up on the project feasibility. My manager proposes we meet up tomorrow afternoon to go through the deal in more depth, so I send an invite to her for 3.00pm tomorrow.

10.30 AM – 12.00 PM

I have half an hour to prepare for my next meeting which is a weekly team meeting, this is held at our favourite café down the road from the office. As such, we don’t have the luxury of a projector screen to present our items, I therefore take to some printing of a few excel tables and graphs I have prepared earlier in the week. The attendees for the meeting include the Project Manager, Retail Development Manager, Commercial Development Manager and our Project Design Manager, this is a great opportunity for me to listen and learn as to how the others in my team who have thorough property experience approach challenges and opportunities on the project. I often ask a few questions and report to the team on items I am responsible for i.e. the project budget, project briefs and several smaller items that I have been working on during the week.

12.00 PM

Today a colleague and I have organised to go for a kick of the footy at the park close by to the office. After a short stroll to the park we aim to have a quick kick for around 30 mins. It’s important to get out and get some fresh air and have some fun and we are fortunate that Mirvac and our management encourage us to take longer lunch breaks to fit in some fitness. Once back in the office, I quickly dig into my lunch and get back to my desk to prepare for a site walk at 1.30pm.

1.30 PM

I have been invited by another project team to go on their site today. Under my desk I have a hard hat, glasses, reflective jacket and a pair of steel capped boots. I meet with the project team in the office and we head together to the building site and inspect on various items that in the program are due to be completed today. Within the group we are accompanied by the design manager who has a great eye for detail so it’s very interesting to hear from them as we walk around. The building has topped off and now much of the mechanical and electrical services are being installed throughout the building, this is a great opportunity for me with limited construction knowledge to understand how the building is constructed and fit out with services and to understand the sequencing of construction milestones. I often point at things and ask what they are, there are a lot of features that go unnoticed but they all have a role to plan. After an hour walk we head back to the office.

2.30 PM

I have ceased an opportunity to work on items on my ‘To Do List’ and ‘Work in Progress List’ for the next couple of hours. The morning has been busy so far, so I am excited to sit down at my desk with a cup of tea and get into some work. Firstly, I attend to my ‘To Do List’ items which today requires me to process a few invoices that we have received from our consultants on the project. This involves matching the fee on our accounting platform and then forwarding the paid invoice onto higher management for approval. Next, I follow up on a few emails I have sent earlier in the week. For instance, one is to our Architect as we requested an updated NLA plan for a potential commercial tenant due to some design ideas we came up with in the project team. After some emails, phone calls and invoicing I attend to my ‘Work in Progress List’, which today I’ll put some time toward working on the project brief for a future tenant.

4.30 PM

The team and I now attend a meeting at the office of a Landscape Architect in Surry Hills. After a short taxi journey, we arrive and sit down to discuss their latest issue of drawings for a scope of works to design the landscaping on the perimeter of our new development site. Prior to the meeting all members of the Mirvac team have had the opportunity to review and mark-up the drawings which require some further detail and clarification of several items. After the meeting we have come to conclusion of some design items and have given the architect till the end of next week to reissue the updated plans.

5.30 PM

I am back in the office and just looking through some emails and correspondence that has come through over the afternoon. Some require a reply, but others can be left for tomorrow. The team and I take a break from the computer and just have a good laugh and chat to end the day.

6.00 PM

I leave the office and get changed back into my sport gear and head home on my bike. On my way I stop by the grocer to grab some ingredients for dinner. Once home, I shower, get changed and turn on some music and get in the kitchen.

7.30 PM

Dinner

10.00 PM

Sleep