“We like fun. We like fortune. But fame, we’re not interested in. We let our projects speak for themselves as we don’t do ordinary, we only do extraordinary.”
And extraordinary they are. Robert DiCintio of Trenerry Group, together with long time partners and friends the Victor Smorgon Group and Kanat Group, unbeknown to some, have been the creators of many statement developments and iconic landmarks across Australia; Sorrento’s ‘Continental’, the West End complex and their most recently acquired heritage project, Burnham Beeches in the Dandenongs.
“These are not projects for the faint-hearted” states DiCintio, who is the founder and sole director of Trenerry Property Group.
Born in 1964 to Italian migrant parents, Robert DiCintio was the eldest of 3 boys, and ambitious from a young age. With a hardworking ethic instilled into him from family, he completed an accounting degree and embarked on a career in finance with what is now known as international credit rating company, Standard and Poor’s. He then moved on to working with merchant banking company Credit Lyonnais and although the banking business was not DiCintio’s preferred field, it was here he discovered his aptitude for mathematics and financial modelling.
In 1987 the share market crashed, activity at the bank slowed down and DiCintio, already with his sights set on moving into property, followed his calling and jumped on board with Lend Lease. At the time, Lendlease was and arguably still is, one of the most reputable property groups of the time and one which DiCintio describes as having a ‘can-do’ philosophy, something which resonated greatly with his own personality.
“I wanted to work for Lendlease because of the people and the culture. Team culture was as important to me then as it is today because one thing I learnt very quickly, is that people don’t have to work for you anymore. They work for you because they want to. So, treat people respectfully, give them challenging opportunities, allow them to add value to the process, pay them quickly, and you have them for life.”
Robert became very apt in retail planning and leasing shopping centers throughout his time at Lendlease during what the highest growth period in the entire cycle. He worked on places like Greensborough Plaza, Campbelltown Mall in Sydney, Bankstown Square, Penrith Plaza Parkmore Keysborough, and Chirnside Shopping Centre.
Melbourne Central was his last project before joining Bensons Property Group a place where he learnt the real life discipline of the development business, the importance of the feasibility, cash management and financial reporting processes. However, in 2007-2008 the GFC hit and although DiCintio found himself out of a job, he was nowhere near down and out. He remained determined to make his next leap the most worthwhile one of all.
“I wanted to start my own business and at the time, noticed that not many commercial developers understood residential and vice versa, however I understood both." So, Robert leveraged off that as his point difference and creates a niche development company, building mixed use property assets.
“Some great advice that chairman of Bensons, Elias Jreissati gave me at the time, was to recognise your own strengths and weaknesses, outsource what you don’t know and build your team around that. Our job as developers is to decide what direction to take the project and which people to bring along on the journey”
To this day Robert remains in very close contact with Elias and sells the amazing wines from Elias’ Yarra Valley winery Levantine Hill, at the Continental in Sorrento.
“When I started my company, there was a site for sale that had difficulty selling because of its history involving contamination and heritage restrictions. It was in Trenerry Crescent, located right on the Yarra River near Dights Falls, just 3km from the CBD. I fell in love with it so much that I purchased it and that was the beginning of my business which we know today as the Trenerry Property Group.”
The Continental - Sorrento, VIC
This is where the ‘extraordinary’ began. From here on, DiCintio proceeded to invest and develop what has accumulated today to near $1 billion worth of real estate across Melbourne and now in Sydney, and one of his most notable being the transformation of Sorrento’s Continental.
The Continental Hotel, affectionately known as ‘The Conti’ overlooks Port Phillip Bay and is an imposing limestone structure that sits on a generous seaside allotment of more than 1 acre. It is no wonder why the landmark had been hotly pursued by many developers over the years. However due to the heritage restrictions and structural works required, there weren’t many, if any, who were able to successfully deliver their vision.
The Victor Smorgon Group had been working on acquiring the site throughout this time and by early 2020, the consortium collectively decided it would be a viable landmark to purchase.
“What made us very nervous was that we transacted it from receivers only two months after we went into lockdown. But our vision remained to develop a world-class hospitality venue, so as a group, we worked intensely to navigate hurdles and make a lot of changes to the internal workings to achieve this.
“The spa and bathhouse in particular, are very exciting. It’s a new initiative for Australia, which involves four separate pools, five sauna and steam rooms, ice room and eight treatment rooms. Lyndall Mitchell of Aurora, has taken the reins and is now making it even better than we imagined.”
The Continental has been a collaboration with global architecture studio Woods Bagot, project managers, Urban Projects, builders Hamilton Marino, and operating partners IHG for hotel, Craig Shearer and Scott Pickett for the F&B hospitality venues, and Lyndall Mitchell for the Aurora Bathhouse.
“It all goes back to one of our key elements of success - pick the right people and partners to collaborate with and create places, not just buildings.”
The Continental Hotel (interior)
The consortium is also currently in the process of developing Sorrento Lodge at 211 Ocean Beach Road, that is, the repurposing of a vacant aged care facility into a 77 bed residential accommodation for local workers.
“The problem not only on the Peninsula, but any regional location throughout Australia is the challenge of attracting front of house staff. The value of regional locations has increased a lot, including rents, so we have set out to determine strategies to assist our operators and our neighbouring small businesses to attract staff to the region.”
In a similar spirit to the Continental, March this year saw the Trenerry consortium purchase Burnham Beeches in the Dandenongs. The now abandoned art deco mansion, was originally designed by architect Harry Norris in 1933 for the Nicholas ‘Aspro’ family and has been vacant for 36 years of its 89 year history. Celebrity chef Shannon Bennett and business partner Adam Garrisson acquired the property 12 years ago and sold it to the Trennery consortium this year.
“Burnham Beeches is now going to be revived and transformed into something incredibly special” states DiCintio with excitement.
The property sits on 22.5 hectares, and alongside the Alfred Nicholas Memorial Garden managed by Parks Victoria. A deal has been made with an international hotel group resort operator however an official announcement is yet to me made.
“We are regenerative developers and therefore the community can be assured that we will develop with love and passion and for the long term. We are a Victorian based consortium of owners who are focused only on doing projects which add value to the community.”
“I'm also at a stage in life where I only do projects which I want to do, and which leave a legacy. I have four children, one grandchild and a beautiful supportive partner so I’m enjoying where I am at.”
This 58-year-old ‘grandfather’ however, shows no signs of slowing down.
“I like collecting and riding old antique Indian motorbikes as they allow me to escape. All you’re focused on at that point in time is your next turn and what’s in front of you, all your other issues in life need to come second otherwise you’ll crash.”
DiCintio’s favorite time of all however, is eating out at restaurants with friends, business associates and loved ones.
“There's nothing better than eating and drinking someone else's creation in a beautifully designed place and having good conversation with people you like. And with having an Italian culture, I enjoy it. And despite the property development business being one of the most capital-intensive pursuits on the planet, it's primarily a people business, so for me, it also comes down to the people you share good experiences with, some fun and hopefully good fortune together along the way.”
