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Written by Kaitlin Shawcross

Always being passionate about business, Michael Condelli feels very privileged to have had the opportunity to be involved in a successful residential building company from its inception. Following in his father’s footsteps, it was no surprise the New Choice Homes General Manager found himself in the building industry.

“My father was in building his whole life and that is what drew me to the industry in the first place,” Mr Condelli said.

Out of school he enrolled to study architecture, but instead ended up with a Certificate in Drafting after wanting to switch to more practical studies. He then moved on to accounting and finance at university when he found himself working in a scheduling position with a project builder at the age of 19 to pay his way through his studies.

“My past studies allowed me to enter the industry, which I enjoyed immensely, and I ended up changing my major to management and was fortunate enough to be exposed to management positions from the age of 23,” Mr Condelli said.

“This was a unique situation as I was gaining management experience in the industry I wanted to be in, whilst completing my degree; it was almost like doing an apprenticeship in management.”
Mr Condelli said he appreciated the dynamics of the thriving industry that provided an opportunity to learn, grow and contribute towards.

“Coming through the ranks I felt like I had a lot to contribute in terms of making things better where I worked,” he said.

“In the past I was involved in some big start-up companies and enjoyed setting things up and having an impact on the way things were done.”

In 2009, Mr Condelli was approached to establish New Choice Homes and has spent the last seven years at its helm, with the last four years alongside renowned builder Rob Spadaccini. Mr Spadaccini felt there was an opportunity to develop a project building company, which could offer the same business values of quality and service of boutique builder Spadaccini Homes, and that Mr Condelli was in the best position to lead the new company.

But establishing a new business does not come without its challenges, and Mr Condelli had the difficult task of building a brand from the ground up and trying to gain a strong reputation in an already, well-established industry.

“It’s hard to win confidence in people on your abilities, and we had to prove that along the way,” he said.

“We were fortunate we had great support from our key people who are still with us today and we also had very reputable suppliers who supported us from the start. This enabled us to have quality products and some big names behind us – which gave us credibility as well.”

Since its inception, New Choice Homes has handed over in excess of 900 homes and won numerous Master Builders Housing Excellence Awards and HIA Perth Housing Awards, including Perth Project Home of the Year and Western Australian Project Home of the Year.

“The biggest thing I’ve learnt is the most important part of building is surrounding yourself with quality individuals, because everything achieved is not achieved alone,” Mr Condelli said.
“There are a lot of variables to manage in a building company, including your internal staff, your supply chain, your tradesmen and, most importantly, your clients.

“It’s all about them collectively working towards the finished product as well as giving great service throughout the journey.”

Mr Condelli is looking forward to continuing to grow the New Choice Homes brand and create a highly driven and customer-orientated work culture.

Written by Kaitlin Shawcross – The West Australian August 20, 2016