Profile – Business, Recreation, Family

Lake Maintenance was established in 1998 from a small office in Gateshead, a suburb of Newcastle in NSW. It started with a contract to maintain and refurbish 5000 houses on the Central Coast.

The office was moved to the current Central Coast site in 2002 to be closer to the core contract.

Within two years another 5000 houses in the Riverina area and west to Broken Hill were added.

Tasmania was the first interstate venture in 2007 when 6000 houses were brought under Lake Maintenance’s management.

The company currently manages 50,000 public dwellings in Western Australia and Victoria as well as its initial commitments in NSW and Tasmania. This is a geographical area ten times bigger than the whole of the United Kingdom.

His business activities have also taken him abroad with another business project in New Zealand. Darren is an owner of a 500 lot subdivision in Wangarei on the North Island an hour and a half’s drive north of Auckland.

Darren is one of a group of Newcastle businessmen developing the “Adina on Darby” site into 40 serviced apartments in Newcastle’s busy Darby Street precinct.

He is also a director of Barrington Resources, Baju and Juba Explorations, all private mining exploration companies.

Darren developed the Joint Authorities Building project on the Nelson Bay waterfront. Tenants include NSW Water Police, NSW Maritime and Parks and Wildlife NSW.

Darren and Ricci also built and own a commercial site at Raymond Terrace, north of Newcastle, which includes a Caltex Service Station, storage facility and fitness centre. There are still some remaining commercial leasing opportunities.

Their property portfolio also includes commercial buildings in the Hillsborough Road, Warners Bay, area.

Darren is also involved with Ricci in Sala’s Function Centre at Warners Bay. It is a boutique Entertainment Centre that will fill a niche in the entertainment market in the Hunter.

Darren is a member of the following professional associations: NSW Master Builders’ Association, Australasian Housing Institute, the Facility Managers’ Association and the Hunter Business Chamber.