We’re back with BEKL’s Ricky Phoon. Rapidly expanding his portfolio, he is now responsible for BEKL’s financial and technical operations and is highly regarded for his negotiation and networking skills. BEKL now has three projects currently operating or under construction, having recently announced its partnership with IHG on new development, voco South Melbourne, slated to open in 2023.
It may surprise you to find out that Phoon didn’t grow up around development, or even plan to work in this area— what he studied at uni had no relation to building or architecture, but he found a way to connect it all together!
In this episode you’ll hear about Phoon’s fateful trip where the intention was to buy a bottle of wine but he ended up walking away with more than he intended— and no, it wasn’t a hangover! He delves into his eventful experiences building and developing purpose built student accommodation and explains how it’s different to typical uni accommodation, and tells a tale of when the circus came to town, except the circus was a brigade of builders, and town was his development.
