Thursday 28 July 2016

Three major developers will be among the first to use Maddocks electronic contract exchange platform 'eContracts', and become the first developers to use such a system for a major Victorian development. Woodlea, Neometro and ID Land will be using the Maddocks e-contract platform for their respective projects.

This week saw parties involved in the latest stage of the Woodlea development project sign off using the Maddocks platform. In the coming weeks Neometro and ID Land are scheduled to use the electronic contract platform for the Jewell Station development.

Maddocks partner and head of the firm’s Development practice Nick Holuigue said the backing of such leading developers was a significant step forward.

‘We have worked hard to produce an electronic contracts platform that is easy to use and is bankable,’ Nick said.

‘Having developers such as Woodlea, Neometro and ID Land embrace this technology is a huge vote of confidence in the platform and a great way to streamline their projects.’

Woodlea projects director Matthew Dean said access to electronic contracts was important.

‘We are big believers at being at the forefront of innovation and client service, so being one of the first Victorian developers to use an electronic contracts system is important to us.

‘The Woodlea project is one of Melbourne’s most significant projects, which turns over large volumes of contracts, so any way we can streamline the process while maintaining the required levels of authority is something we want to be a part of.

‘Our future residents should find this process seamless and more transparent as they will be notified immediately once contracts are exchanged.’

Neometro director Neil McLennan said that sustainability was central to every aspect of the New Urban Village they are creating at Jewell Station.

'As well as creating infrastructure that supports resilient communities and incorporating environmentally-sustainable design principles into the built form, we love the idea of a paperless sales process and these e-contracts enable us to achieve that goal,’ Neil said.

‘The bonus is these contracts also save us and our purchasers time and money, so we're really pleased that Maddocks has assisted us to lead the market by offering this new service.’

ID Land director Matthew Belford said his company wanted all of its projects to move to the use of e-contracts as it will provide the best customer experience.

‘Several days are lost under the current process with the posting of executed contracts between parties for execution along with providing them to lawyers and financiers,’ Matthew said.

‘With the e-contract process, customers can have the executed contract emailed to them and their advisers on the spot, providing piece of mind to an often stressful transaction. The developer also has the benefit of a live electronic system of executed contracts which provides real time transparency and confidence to its development financiers.’

Maddocks, as one of Victoria’s leading development practices, has been involved in key acquisitions and dispositions for its clients, and processes up to 10,000 development contracts and settlements every year. The firm was involved last year in about $3 billion in development sales in the residential sector in Victoria alone.