Our Team
Bluebird prides itself on our innovative and dedicated approach, and our specialist team brings a wealth of experience and commitment to integrity in all that we do.
We have created a service that consists of a highly experienced team who have worked with some of the most sophisticated developers in Australia. We offer this experience to the broader industry through our ‘outsourced model’.
We have decades of experience, delivering projects ranging from $2m to $3b+ in value. We are formally qualified in property economics, development, architecture, project management and construction management.
We hold our REIQ sales licence and are QBCC licenced to perform project management and superintendency services.
The Bluebird team prides itself on our in-depth knowledge, strong industry networks and collaborative approach. As an extension of your in-house team, we build capacity, upskill teams, and bring the knowledge you need to get the job done.
Founder & Managing Director
Riye Arai-Coupe
Riye Arai-Coupe is the Founder and Managing Director of Bluebird. With 18 years of experience in strategic & development advisory and project delivery across all sectors, Riye has worked with a selection of leading private and corporate property developers, government bodies and not-for-profit organisations. Some of these include Mirvac, Destination Brisbane Consortium, Brisbane Housing Company, Far East Consortium, Consolidated Properties Group, AVID Property Group, Arklife, Sekisui House, UnitingCare QLD and Queensland Investment Corporation.
Riye has extensive project advisory, development and project management experience and provides strong leadership and direction at all stages of the project lifecycle. Her expertise includes:
Strategic and development advisory
Acquisitions, disposals and transaction management
Project visioning and value optimisation
Feasibility studies and financial modelling
Due diligence assessments
Design development
Statutory approvals
Project management and delivery
Marketing, sales, leasing and building management
Community engagement and stakeholder management
Business and financial management
Having completed a range of tertiary qualifications, Riye has a Bachelor of Property Economics and an Advanced Diploma in Building & Construction Management, and is QBCC licenced to provide Project Management Services.
Since 2011, Riye has also served with a range of industry bodies dedicating herself to the wider property industry, including:
Chair | Urban Development Institute of Australia QLD Housing Supply and Affordability Committee (current)
Deputy Chair | Property Council of Australia QLD Residential Committee (current)
Board of Advisors | Property Industry Foundation QLD (current)
Chair | Property Industry Foundation QLD Beneficiary Review Committee (current)
Property Council of Australia QLD Diversity and Inclusion Committee (2016-2022)
Chair | Property Council of Australia QLD Future Directions Committee (2014-2015)
Property Council of Australia QLD Future Directions Committee (2011-2013)
In 2023, Riye was recognised as one of the Queensland 40 Under 40 award winners for leading entrepreneurs and inspiring business leadership. Riye is also a regular public speaker at industry events and educational seminars, and frequently dedicates her time to a range of community initiatives.
Bluebird Board of Advisors
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Kathy Mac Dermott is an independent consultant on strategy, diversity and inclusion, reputation and risk management, and communication. Recent projects include working with Rio Tinto, the National Transport Commission, QIC, Building 4.0 CRC, Homes for Homes, and the Cromwell Property Group. She also provides pro bono support for Chief Executive Women as a member of its working group on the Respect is Everyone’s Business initiative respect.cew.org.au, now entering its second phase focused on positive duty and the eradication of sexual harassment in the workplace, and NOFASD Australia.
Kathy has over 37 years’ experience in strategy and communications, most recently as the Chief Operating Officer at the Property Council of Australia (2014-2021). Her career includes 11 years as a journalist at the Australian Financial Review, including seven years as the Queensland Bureau Chief. She has also worked in corporate communications in Australia and London, including investor relations and issues management.
Kathy was the program director of the Property Champions of Change, from its establishment in 2015 to July 2021. In March 2019, She was also a member of the Champions of Change delegation, led by Elizabeth Broderick AO, to the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) 63rd Session.
Along with her own consultancy, she is a Principal of Creating Leaders which designs and implements leadership development programs for teams. Recent projects include an Emerging Leadership Program for Herron Todd White, Developing High Performance Teams for the Australasian Railways Association and working with the City of Brisbane Investment Corporation in a workshop environment to build together a compelling Employee Value Proposition.
She is also a Committee Member of the Archdiocese of Brisbane Property and Building Committee and a member of Chief Executive Women.
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Malcolm Aikman has over 30 years of experience in the property, economic development, and professional services consulting sectors. He has experience working in both public and private sector organisations having worked for Lendlease, the NSW Treasury, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Korn Ferry, Urbis, and Place Design Group. He has deep property sector experience having developed and led Urbis’ national Residential Economics practice as well as its QLD Property Economics business.
In recent years he has provided expert advice to the Queensland Government, Brisbane City Council, Stockland, Walker Corporation, and Gold Coast City Council on matters covering land and dwelling supply, office market strategies, housing affordability, and economic impacts and trends. Malcolm was invited to be the economic expert on the inaugural Moreton Bay Regional Infill Housing Expert Panel providing valuable insights on how to better facilitate infill residential development.
Malcolm has extensive board experience with entrepreneurial businesses including through their early years of development having been a Director and Chair of the Lockyer Valley Fruit and Vegetable Processing Company, and Director of School Plus Foundation. His contribution in these roles also gave him great insight into the critical success factors for running businesses.
Malcolm’s knowledge and insight have long been sought by the property industry having been a regular presenter with both the Property Council of Australia and Urban Development Institute of Australia.
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Nick Bonifant offers more than 28 years of experience and success in business startups, funds management, real estate investing, company ownership and operations, strategic planning, development management, health safety and environment compliance, and executive governance. Recognised as an expert in executive leadership.
Recognised by industry peers as a compassionate leader, a strong communicator with a collaborative style, and a capable change advocate who ‘leads from the front’ to implement strategic initiatives, drive organisational change, and ultimately deliver key business outcomes.
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Todd Pepper is the Founder and Executive Director of Alceon Qld and has over 30 years’ experience across a broad range of property and private equity sectors including valuation, sales and leasing, development management and structured finance.
Prior to the establishment of the joint venture with Alceon Group to create Alceon Qld in 2012, Todd was a founding Director of Harvest Property, a property development and wholesale funds management business based in South-East Queensland which commenced in May 2008.
Todd has unique experience across the Retirement Living property spectrum and was the founding Director of Gateway Lifestyle which started with one Manufactured Home Park Village at Tingalpa in 2009 and went on to publicly list with 36 Villages in 2015 with a market capitalisation of $498M. Gateway Lifestyle was subsequently acquired by US giant, American Hometown for $675m in 2018. Todd is also a Director of Liberty Senior Living which operates one of the few rental retirement Villages within Brisbane.
Since 2009 Alceon Qld has also pursued a strategy of developing and refurbishing A grade suburban office buildings and is currently developing Suburban Office Parks at Hamilton Northshore, Albion, Brisbane Technology Park, and Acuity Business Park at Robina. Todd has been responsible for the development and sale of in excess of over 100,000m² of suburban and fringe office space during this time.
Todd’s most recent strategy and role is as Director of Rino Recycling. Rino is now investing in a state-of-the-art facility in Pinkenba, Brisbane that will dramatically improve waste recovery rates and divert resources away from landfill.
Previous positions also held have been with Babcock & Brown in their property and Capital Market Division, predominantly focused on the sourcing and structuring of property related debt and equity transactions, Associate Director – Infrastructure Capital of ABN AMRO, General Manager – Units and Townhouse Division for Devine Ltd and Director of the Qld Investment Sales division at Savills.
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For the past 30 years, Scott has worked in senior executive roles within the property industry, managing real estate portfolios and delivering high profile projects for QUT, Mater, Brisbane Airport Corporation, QIC and Westfield.
In mid-2018, Scott founded Yield Corp, an advisory company dedicated to providing strategic solutions in the real estate funds management, development and asset management sectors. Yield Corp is committed to addressing real estate challenges and building highly customised solutions while achieving portfolio-wide value enhancement for its clients.
Scott holds the position of Chief Property Officer at QUT and was formally the Executive General Manager, Property at the Brisbane International Airport. In addition to leading the property business, Scott was a member of the Executive Leadership Team and was responsible for corporate real estate policy, organisational strategy and group financial performance.
Scott had a 20-year career at the Queensland Investment Corporation (QIC) holding positions of Investment General Manager and Fund Manager. While at QIC, Scott was responsible for planning, resourcing and delivering of a number of significant projects including the development of the Coomera and Robina Town Centres on the Gold Coast, the redevelopment of Grand Central in Toowoomba, and Claremont Quarter in Perth. In addition, Scott was responsible for the establishment and management of QIC’s Shopping Centre Fund, an initiative that at the time was Australia’s largest unlisted wholesale fund capital raise, shifting $1.5bn of retails assets into a dedicated fund and introducing new capital partners to the QIC stable.
Scott spent 6 years as a Development Executive with Westfield. Working between Sydney, Canada and Auckland, Scott delivered projects that included Westfield Marion, Westfield Tea Tree Plaza, Westfield Arndale and Westfield Queensgate. Throughout Scott’s career, his experience has focused on the Fund Management, Development Management and Asset Management of large scale, community focussed assets whilst leading teams of professionals through project assessment, design and delivery.
From 2014 through to 2020, Scott was a Queensland Divisional Council Member of the Property Council of Australia and he now Chairs the PCA’s Social Infrastructure Committee. Scott was formerly a Board member of the Property Industry Foundation. Additionally, Scott holds non-executive director roles on a number of educational and not-for-profit organisations. Scott is a Graduate of QUT Property Economics Course and a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
