OpenCorp director Allister Lewison has landed at number 33 on the BRW Young Rich List, his third consecutive appearance on the prestigious ranking of top entrepreneurs under 40. It’s a huge jump for Lewison, who leapt from the 64th place last year.
Lewison’s personal wealth is now listed as $74 million, almost double the $42 million in 2016’s Young Rich List. The entrepreneur’s rise mirrors that of OpenCorp itself, which first made its appearance on the BRW Fast 100 in 2014 and has been there ever since. The OpenCorp business has evolved since its inception, and now not only offers investment advice but also includes a funds management and property development division with $500 million of national projects in the pipeline.
As well as a portfolio of completed projects, the development arm is currently working on projects including Eastside Village, a multi-residential apartment project located in Hawthorn East in Melbourne; Umbra, a land subdivision in Greenvale, Melbourne; Quayhouse, a multi-residential apartment project located in Port Coogee in Western Australia; Quenda, a land subdivision project located in one of Perth’s growth corridors in Hammond Park; and also multiple projects in Queensland.
Lewison has had a meteoric rise on the BRW Young Rich List, from the 93rd place when he debuted in 2015.
Despite his wealth today, Lewison started small, and his journey as a self-made entrepreneur proves the value of the OpenCorp business model, which puts the benefits of property in reach of everyday Australians.
At the age of 20, he took his savings from a job stacking supermarket shelves and put down the deposit on a modest home in Melbourne’s outer suburbs. Soon, he had gained some equity in the original property and quickly used that to buy another property. Repeating the process led to Lewison – with his brother Matt and now brother-in-law Cam McLellan – accumulating a significant portfolio of investment properties. Over time their success drew the attention of family and friends who began to seek advice on how they too could invest in property.
Given their collective success and knowledge, the three investors saw value in launching a business to share their knowledge and assist everyday Australians with investing in property. That was when OpenCorp began.
The past year has been good for all business divisions: in particular, OpenCorp’s investment services continues to enjoy year-on-year sales and revenue growth of 25 per cent; in addition, the development arm has added 700 lots nationally to its land bank. And OpenCorp is currently developing its first project in the emergent build-to-rent space.
Diversification into new markets nationally has played an important role in the recent success of OpenCorp’s property development division.
“To stand apart from other Australian developers, OpenCorp aims to be nimble and adaptable to sustain a competitive edge. We are actively diversifying the markets we are developing projects in,” Lewison says.
“Property is cyclical and each market follows its own pattern. This allows us to look into different areas at varying stages of its cycle to help determine what type of development will work best for buyers and meet demand. While Melbourne continues to shine as one of the strongest residential markets in the country, we have also been actively working on opportunities in both south-east Queensland and parts of Perth,” Lewison says.
In the past year OpenCorp has launched two major new initiatives, branching into property management – recently launching the service with 1000 properties in its portfolio – and finance broking.
Lewison says the common theme with the new services is managing risk for OpenCorp’s clients.
“As a business we have been looking at areas that pose a risk to our clients’ investment journey. Mainly these are third-party touch points that could ruin their experience,” says Lewison.
“So, for example, if we can protect a landlord’s valuable assets through offering property management services, and take the stress out of the tenancy process, then that’s great. Similarly, with our brokerage service, we want to help our clients avoid the potential pitfalls when sourcing a loan to get the best financing possible.”
“Where we have the ability to assist in these processes on behalf of our clients while growing and strengthening the OpenCorp business, that’s something we are actively focused on in this current phase.”