Executive Team

Bill Zheng
Executive Chairman & Co-Founder

Profile

Bill Zheng is the Co-Founder and Managing Director of Investors Direct Financial Group (IDFG), the Co-Founder and Executive Chairman of Australian Education City (AEC).

Bill was educated in China, Australia and the United States and is fluent in both English and Chinese.  His tertiary education includes Civil Engineering at South China University of Technology (SCUT), Computer Science at RMIT University, Masters of Business Administration at Monash University. 

After a long corporate career spanning positions in Australia, Hong Kong, China, the United States, Canada, Finland and New Zealand, Bill left PwC Melbourne in 2000 to found IDFG.  IDFG has wholly owned subsidiaries in mortgage finance, property advisory, financial planning, funds management, property management, property development, and property construction.

Between 2014-2019, Bill lead the AEC team to win the international tender for the 412ha Victorian government owned land at East Werribee Employment Precinct in Melbourne, and secured AUD$3Billion equity investment to develop the proposed $31Billion, 6 million sqm GFA education city & innovation district that can deliver 90,000+ long term local jobs.

With the AEC vision now ready to deploy across Australia, Bill is working closely with the AEC executive team and its global consortium partners to deliver the much-needed local jobs and innovative urban solutions for local communities.

John Tabart
Chief Executive Officer

Profile

John Tabart has 35 years CEO private and public sectors experience with full profit centre responsibility in  Australia, the UK, the US, South East Asia and the Middle East.

John’s career includes notable global roles such as:

• CEO of the delivery authority for the $10B Barangaroo Precinct, together with Board membership of the  Barangaroo Delivery Authority for over 5 years where John was responsible for governance, management, funding, financial and risk management, marketing, planning, design, contracting, JV partnership  management, delivery, public and media relations, and operations of the precinct
• Managing Director of Explore Capital Ltd and Explore Investments Ltd (the London based property development and funds management subsidiaries of Laing O’Rourke Plc) where John was responsible for  management, creation and delivery of the GBP £2Bn, residential, commercial, retail, education and mixed-use developments
• Non-executive Director of the Dubai-based sovereign fund Sama Dubai LLC and Chairman of its Investment  Committee.  In addition, he was the Chief Portfolio Officer and Executive Director of Sama Dubai LLC responsible for initiating, creating and managing the development of Sama’s new real estate development  investments and JV’s in Dubai, Morocco, Turkey, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain, China and Vietnam
• CEO of the Docklands Authority and VicUrban (a 2003 merger of the Melbourne Docklands Authority and the Urban and Regional Land Corporation)
• Development Director for the Federal Airports Corporation for the Brisbane International Airport Complex
• MD, Singapore, Manager Queensland, MD Residential, Lend Lease Corporation

Ross Martiensen
General Manager & Co-Founder

Profile

Ross Martiensen is the Co-Founder and General Manager of Australian Education City.  He holds a full licence in Real Estate in Victoria and
New South Wales.

Ross studied Applied Science and Photography at RMIT, and completed a Diploma of Property at Academic  Pavilion, and a Certificate IV in Mortgage Broking from AAMC. He was the head of the Property Investment Division for one of the largest building groups in Victoria and directed a number of land subdivision and property development projects within his own business before heading up Investors Direct Property Advisory  (IDPA) in 2010.

Ross has a track record in delivering high performing investment properties and his expertise is well sought after by property investors across Australia.  In the last few years alone, Ross has been responsible for securing  and delivering a range of residential property transactions and developments to property investors.  As a  director of Investors Direct, a key stakeholder in Australian Education City, Ross has oversight and management of the integrated property development and investment business.  Ross has been the responsible executive for  bringing Australian Education City to its current status of realisation from the origination of the vision, through to the current negotiation period.  He will continue in this role to ensure that Australian Education City is delivered and true to its vision and stakeholders' expectations for the initiative.

Shane Sheedy
Development & Design Lead

Profile

Shane Sheedy is a highly astute and results-driven Senior Developer and Construction Executive with over 30 years’ experience delivering a diverse range of projects throughout Australia. Shane is also a registered Unlimited Commercial and Domestic Building Practitioner.

Shane has managed many large project teams from inception through to completion, delivering across various sectors from residential, commercial, retail shopping centres, government buildings, recreational resorts and land sub-divisions.  Shane has worked as an executive for over 18 years with a number of development and construction companies and notably delivered several signature projects such as: Waterfront City, Docklands, Silverwater Resort, Aerial Apartments, Bendigo Market Place Shopping Centre, Monash Green, Clayton.

Shane is a Director of the Development and Construction business unit at Capitol Property Group as well as the Project Director for Australian Education City.  Shane is responsible for the vision, direction and management of the business unit and to ensure that all projects are completed on time, on budget, to a set quality standard and that the internal rate of return is achieved across all developments and investments.

Shane’s personable approach, methodology, eye for detail and his drive and ability to deliver projects brings confidence and reassurance to all stakeholders. 

Our Thinking

Thought-leadership is at the heart of our vision.  We feel it is important to share emerging trends and our views on what future cities will look like.  

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