Development & Project Management NSW.
Development Management
A development has one owner but a dozen agendas. Someone has to hold the owner's line through every one of them.
Blackark acts as the client-side development and project manager, the owner's representative, running a project from the business case through approvals, procurement and delivery to handover. We are not the builder and not the consultant; our only interest is the owner's return, program and quality. That independence is the whole point of the role.
The firm is led by Allen Mushulu, Founder & Director, whose career spans over $2 billion of projects across NSW and Victoria, including the $1.1B One Sydney mixed-use development at Circular Quay and the $676M Campbelltown Hospital Redevelopment, delivered while at consultancies including CBRE, JLL and Turner & Townsend. That tier-one delivery discipline is what we bring to developments of every scale.
Live Project
Branxton, Hunter Valley
Client-side project management for industrial development
Blackark is delivering client-side project management for the Branxton industrial development, acting as the owner's representative across design, approvals and construction. It's a working example of the role: one accountable manager holding budget, program and quality on the owner's behalf.
What We Do
The full owner's-representative scope, from business case to handover.
- Feasibility & Business Case
- Development Strategy
- Budget & Cash Flow Control
- Consultant & Builder Procurement
- DA & CDC Approval Strategy
- Program & Risk Management
- Superintendency
- Variation & Contract Management
- Handover & Close-Out
Go Deeper
How we think about the role, in our own words.
Read what a client-side project manager actually does (and when you need one), and the hard-won delivery lessons in delivering a $676M hospital redevelopment. Managing a subdivision specifically? See our land subdivision service.
Common Questions
What's the difference between development management and project management?
Development management is the commercial role: feasibility, funding strategy, acquisition, approvals and the decisions that shape the asset. Project management (client-side) is the delivery role: driving the consultants and contractor to program, budget and quality. Blackark does both, so the commercial intent set at feasibility is the same intent enforced on site.
What does a client-side project manager actually do?
The client-side PM represents the owner's interests, not the builder's or the consultant's. That means owning the budget and program, running procurement and contracts, chairing the project control group, managing variations and risk, and reporting to the owner in plain numbers, so the person paying for the project is the best-informed party in the room.
When do I need a development manager?
When the project is bigger than your in-house capacity, when the money at stake justifies independent oversight, or when you want feasibility, approvals and delivery run by one accountable party. Owners engage us from day one on new sites, and mid-stream on projects that have drifted off budget or program.
What size and type of projects do you manage?
Blackark manages residential, land subdivision, industrial and warehouse, and mixed-use projects across NSW. Our team's delivery experience spans from local developments to major work at tier-one consultancies, including a $1.1B mixed-use development and a $676M hospital redevelopment.
How is a development manager paid?
Typically a fee scoped to the project: fixed, a percentage of project cost, or a monthly retainer for the engagement, set against a clear scope of services. The fee is small relative to the budget and program outcomes a good manager protects; we scope it transparently before any engagement starts.
Need someone in your corner?
Whether you're starting a new development or rescuing one that's drifted, Blackark will represent your interests from feasibility to handover: one accountable manager, tier-one discipline. Based in Oran Park, working across NSW.