Don O’Rorke in New York as part of his ‘little bit of work, a little bit of holiday’ overseas jaunt

Queensland developer Don O’Rorke is lapping the globe on a lavish working holiday to suss out the latest architectural trends and he answered the phone in the strangest of locations.

Consolidated Properties chief executive Don O'Rorke.

Consolidated Properties boss Don O’Rorke’s mind is never far away the development game – even if its 10 minutes from curtain up for a Broadway show.

Citybeat caught up with the genial developer who was in his seat with wife Katie waiting for the start of the long-running hit musical The Book of Mormon at the historic Eugene O’Neill theatre in New York.

O’Rorke says the trip was a “little bit of work, a little bit of holiday” and the US leg was the last stop before coming home having already visited Paris, Berlin and Copenhagen.

“We have a bunch of new residential stuff coming on stream so I wanted to have a look at what’s best practice,” he says of the overseas jaunt.

“In each city we’ve had a look around at what the best residential buildings are as well as commercial and retail. We’ve had an architectural guide to show us the best in each place.

“You have to keep educating yourself.”

The Book of Mormon was on Don’s visit list. Picture: Jeff Busby

The last stop for the O’Rorke in the US before returning to Brisbane is Savannah in Georgia.

While the architecture is a big drawcard, O’Rorke is keen on a visit since he read Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil which is set in the southern city.

By the way, Citybeat seems to have a bit of history catching the couple overseas.

Last year we phoned and caught the couple at 4.40am United Arab Emirates time when they arrived bleary eyed in Abu Dhabi to check out the world’s largest man-made wave pool.

Back in Queensland it’s shaping up to be a busy year for Consolidated Properties having lodged a DA for its next building at Yeerongpilly Green.

“We have another site under contract and once we get through DD (due diligence) we will make an announcement and we have two others are a bit further down the track,” O’Rorke says.

“If everything lands we’ll have a pretty full residential work book.”

New president

Joint Managing director of Ausbuild, Michael Loney has been appointed the state president of the Queensland division of Urban Development Institute of Australia.

He has been a Board member since 2014 and takes over from Frasers Properties’ Scott Ullman who was at the UDIA helm for the past two years.

Also Mirvac’s general manager – residential development QLD Warwick Bible has retired after serving for many years as a director. He held the role of state president from 2020 to 2023. Mirvac development director Mark Clancy has been appointed to the Board.

Michael Loney who is the new state president of the Queensland division of UDIA.

Sponsors

A couple of Gold Coast tech companies are kicking goals – literally – as they expand nationally.

Homeschool provider, Euka, and fellow beach dweller, Eggy, which is a productivity app, have both signed on as major sponsors of A-League power house the Newcastle Jets football team.

We understand it’s an Australian first for a professional sporting organisation to be

partnering with a homeschool provider for this reason. Euka CEO Brett Campbell says homeschooling gives children, and their families, the opportunity to chase their dreams.

Eggy is the brainchild of former Newcastle Knights star Kirk Reynoldson and his wife, Kate Morgan, with the app aimed at ‘unscrambling’ life admin with diaries, calendars, and reminder notifications.

Eggy founders Kate Morgan and Kirk Reynoldson

Originally published as Don O’Rorke in New York as part of his ‘little bit of work, a little bit of holiday’ overseas jaunt