I assess sites, surface risk, and identify the approval pathway before you commit a dollar to the wrong deal. Camden Lane is a Sydney development advisory built for homeowners, investors, builders and developers who'd rather know than guess.
Development goes wrong for one of four reasons. Camden Lane addresses each of them, in writing, before the money moves.
A No-Go recommendation on the wrong site can save you the entire purchase price plus stamp duty plus DA costs plus holding costs. The most valuable advice I give is sometimes "walk away."
Feasibility and OptioneeringA CDC where you assumed a DA. A Housing SEPP play instead of a standard application. Development potential that wasn't obvious from the listing. Approvals in weeks, not months, and sometimes that's the entire margin.
Site and Pathway ReviewA clean, well-structured application gets through faster. Less RFI back-and-forth. Less re-lodgement. Fewer rejections. Every month saved is a month of holding costs you don't pay and a month of construction you can start.
DA ManagementMost development losses don't come from bad luck. They come from a constraint nobody knew was there, like a covenant, a heritage overlay, contaminated soil, infrastructure gaps. I check twelve gates on every site.
Acquisition Due DiligenceThe work runs from the first site check to the certificate at the end: what a site will carry, whether it stacks up, the approval, the consultants and the delivery. Every engagement is confirmed in a written scope before it starts, and the price on it is the price.
Is this site worth a closer look?
Zoning, the likely pathway (exempt, CDC or DA) and the first red flags, from the address and public records, in plain English.
For Agents and buyers screening a site.
What will this site actually let you do?
An 8 to 10 page written report. The zoning and controls, every available approval pathway (exempt, complying development under the Codes SEPP, Housing SEPP options or a DA) and the fastest one, the constraints that bite, what's approved or proposed around the site and what it means for the block, and a recommendation on how to proceed. Back within five business days.
For Buyers before exchange, and owners deciding whether to design.
Does it stack up, and what is the best thing to build?
What the site will carry and what it could become. Scheme options tested against the controls, yield and use mix, and a cost and revenue picture, so the numbers are there before anything gets drawn.
For Builders and investors deciding whether to buy, or what to put on a site they own.
Is there anything that stops you signing?
The full assessment before exchange: planning, land and title, civil and infrastructure, environmental, legal and entity, and settlement.
For Anyone about to exchange on a development site.
The DA run end to end.
Consultant brief and coordination, documentation, pre-lodgement, lodgement, RFIs and council negotiation through to determination. The floor is set by use type.
Where a project can go complying development, I run it.
Eligibility confirmed against the Codes SEPP, consultant and certifier coordination, and lodgement. A Section 10.7 planning certificate is ordered at the start.
The follow-on from the DA.
Condition tracking, consultant deliverables, the document register, certifier liaison and lodgement, on an agreed program. Scoped to building class and program.
Same hand on the wheel through the build.
Coordination between client, consultants, planners and certifier through construction to occupation certificate.
Camden Lane as your approvals arm.
Across a pipeline, up to four projects at a time. For builders and studios running a pipeline.
"From" prices scope up with complexity, and these loadings are the only reason they do. They apply only where the site triggers them.
"The cost of getting it right at the start is always less than the cost of getting it wrong at the end."
My framework breaks every development into twelve checkpoints. Each tier of engagement covers a defined range. Nothing is skipped; nothing is assumed.
Renovations, additions and secondary dwellings. Clarity on what's possible before plans are drawn.
Acquisition reviews, development potential analysis, and structured feasibility for pipeline decisions.
Planning strategy and approvals coordination that keeps your projects moving and your clients informed.
Strategic advisory and DA management on complex sites where the margin lives in the detail.
I assess the site and your objectives, define scope, and determine the right service engagement.
I identify constraints, opportunities and the optimal approval pathway for your circumstances.
I coordinate consultants and manage council and authority liaison directly.
I maintain oversight through approvals and into delivery, protecting the original project intent.
I'm a property development professional with over a decade of hands-on experience across the full development lifecycle, from acquisition, feasibility, planning approvals, design, construction and delivery. I've originated projects from scratch, built feasibilities from first principles, managed DAs end-to-end, coordinated consultant teams, and run construction on the ground. That breadth spans residential, commercial, mixed-use and large-scale precinct work, across both Australia and the United States.
I started Camden Lane to build a practice on my own terms. And to show my daughter what building something of your own looks like. Every engagement gets my full attention, and the advice is always grounded in what I'd do with my own money on the line.
Tell me about your site, your stage, and what you're trying to achieve. I respond within one business day with a recommended scope of engagement and a clear next step.
