Key Takeaways

  • Atterbury appointed Ruan van Rooyen as Development Manager in Pretoria, bringing 7 years of residential development experience from NGA Construction and RIC Development.
  • Ruan was impressed by Atterbury’s values of being client-focused, quality-driven, detail-oriented, and brand identity improvement, describing the company as organized for joint purpose.
  • His role involves managing projects from inception to close-out, prioritizing client needs, meeting timelines and budgets while considering long-term impact beyond immediate requirements.
  • Ruan is passionate about family life with wife Janine and 7-month-old daughter Rodé, runs an NPO for community outreach, and maintains a healthy lifestyle through exercise and continuous learning.

Atterbury has appointed a new Development Manager in Pretoria. Ruan van Rooyen is an experienced Project Manager with a 7-year residential development background. We met with Ruan over a cappuccino from our in-house barista and learnt more about his career path, his expectations and what he is passionate about.

You are an experienced Project Manager. Tell us more about the career path that led you to Atterbury? What made you take the step to join the company?

My career started during my student years at NGA Construction, a construction company, where I was exposed to a wide variety of construction projects from the residential to industrial industry. After NGA, I got the opportunity to continue my career as a Project Manager in the residential industry at RIC Development, an international property developers’ company. My experience with RIC led me to deal with all the stages within the development process, from inception (land acquisition) to the project close-out.

Atterbury (well the name says it all), posted a vacancy and I could not resist the temptation to apply. Firstly, to be part of such a well-known development company and secondly to broaden my knowledge from first construction, then residential property development to a multi-development ‘’mega scale’’ company.

 

You started a month ago at Atterbury as a Development Manager, attending the Atterbury Property Development (APD) ‘bosberaad.’ What stood out for you?

Apart from the enthusiasm and friendliness of all the employees and the ‘’amazing’’ pipeline of projects, I found that Atterbury stands for the following values:

  • To be client focused
  • To always focus on quality
  • To have an eye for the smaller detail
  • To improve our brand identity

‘It’s a matter of association, where association means: a group of people organized for a joint purpose’ summarizes Atterbury perfectly.

 

Have there been any surprises, coming from a residential development background into a mixed-use industry? What did you not expect to find here, and did?

I believe each industry has its own pros and cons with their own opportunities and challenges. The mixed-use industry certainly has more departments than the ‘resi’ side. At Atterbury you will find various departments – from Asset Management, Leasing, Tenant co-ordination, Marketing, Development Management to an Operations Department. I did not expect to find the amount of detail and energy that goes into all these departments. These departments lend itself to a lot more opportunities to gain experience and knowledge about all the processes within a mixed-use industry. I’ve realized the common goal is that the client’s needs always comes first, and I am looking forward to sharing my ‘resi’ experience with Atterbury as there is a couple of ‘Resi’ developments on the horizon. (Barlow, and Randport).

 

As Development Manager, what are your main priorities at the moment, and how do you see the role developing going forward?

My priority is to understand our clients’ needs, to give my best to meet those needs within the given timelines, to the best Atterbury-quality and on budget. I need to manage the project from inception to the close-out with the tenants’ best interest in mind and to think about the bigger picture, not only for here and now, but for the future. I would love to see my role developing in such a manner to build good professional relationships with our teams and clients to generate income for Atterbury and to help Atterbury grow with what I am undertaking – not only financially, but also in stature.

 

How does a typical ‘day in your life’ unfold in this new position?

Undoubtedly it starts with a cappuccino from our in-house barista, and then it is a constant question of ‘’where can I assist’?’  Other than that, I’ve been assigned to a couple of projects which involves continuous communication between the professionals and our in-house departments, from leasing to marketing, to making sure that I can produce the best quality of work with the given resources in the set amount of time.

 

Tell us a bit about your personal life and what you are passionate about.

I am sharing my house with my lovely wife, Janine, and our 7-month-old daughter, Rodé, which are the most amazing part of my life by far. I have completed my honors degree in Construction Management at UP, and I am constantly seeking opportunities to learn, grow and better myself. I’ve therefore done a couple of online courses such as the Property Development and Investment (short course) through UCT.

I am passionate about my family, and I am always striving to be the best husband and best father I can be. I live by the motto ‘to love people more, and to enhance people around me.’ This motto always humbles and forces me to see the good in everyone.

My wife and I started a NPO in lockdown which we are very passionate about.  Our motto is: ‘We help where help is needed.’  We’ve done several outreaches to hospitals during the challenging times throughout the COVID pandemic, and any other ‘random’ outreaches where we assisted where or whenever there was need.

I am also enthusiastic about having a healthy body, mind and soul; therefore, I enjoy exercising – from jogging to an adventurous hike.

 

What will be your focus for the rest of the year and going into 2022?

I would love to learn more about Atterbury, to gain as much knowledge as possible, and to be the best Development Manager I can be. To humble myself, to always be open to new ideas and to keep on learning and treating others with respect.

How does your expectations compare to reality?

The reality was everything and more than expected, from the great company culture to the astounding pipeline of development projects. I believe this is any young and energetic Development Manager’s dream.