Issue 77 I The Property Development Review

The Interview Australia

THE PROPERTY DEVELOPMENT REVIEW

ARNOLD VITOCCO

SHESH GHALE

VITOCCO ENTERPRISES

MIT GROUP

With Rob Langton - Ready Media Group

Our special guest on this episode is Arnold Vitocco - Founder & Managing Director of diversified family office Vitocco Enterprises. Vitocco Enterprises is one of Australia’s most successful family- run private corporations, with a pedigree dating back some seventy years and a portfolio of assets that encompasses holdings across the property development, real estate investment, retail, agriculture and food and beverage sectors. The origins of the company date back to Arnold’s father Domenic Vitocco OAM, whom migrated from Italy to Liverpool in 1956 and set about learning the fundamentals of construction, initially working as a concreter before launching & successfully building his own business, D. Vitocco Constructions into a major property player in Sydney’s South West over the course of the next forty years - a period that saw the business develop an estimated two-thousand residential & commercial properties including apartments, factories & office buildings across Liverpool, Macarthur and surrounds. With exposure to property development and the rigours of business from an early-age, Arnold followed in his father’s footsteps. Between 1977 and 1982, he attended boarding school at St Gregory’s College, before later enrolling in a four-year Diploma of Building Certificate course at Granville College (now known as TAFE Granville). Following completion of his studies, Arnold worked in the family business before identifying an opportunity in the late 1980’s that would become one of the pivotal moments of his career. In 1989, after witnessing the growth of South-West Sydney first-hand, Arnold aged twenty-four recognised the region’s lack of retail amenity presented an immense opportunity and set about acquiring the first five-acre parcel of land and old shops for a million dollars in a joint-venture partnership with Tony Perich - they later acquired a further 55,000sqm of land and bridge linking another 75,000sqm of land totalling 150,000sqm of land. That fortuitous deal with Tony some three decades ago has become legendary, owing to the rise of Narellan Town Centre, the privately held shopping centre the pair opened in 1995 and have steadfastly built THE BILLIONAIRE DEVELOPER WHO HELPED SHAPE WESTERN SYDNEY

FROM THE MOUNTAINS OF NEPAL TO AUSTRALIA’S RICH LIST

into one of the Country’s largest and most successful retail centres, incorporating in excess of 71,000sqm of retail, 11m visitors per year and an estimated book value of some $800m plus - with further capacity to grow up to 150,000 sqm of retail mixed use. Whilst widely recognised for his success with Narellan, Arnold has completed a number of similar cornerstone deals over the past two decades including the development as a joint venture with the Marist Bros. of the 2,800 plus lot Gregory Hills community, the 7,000 lot Lowes Creek Maryland community, the 45 hectare Central Hills Business Park, 1,400 lot subdivision as a joint venture with Cameron Brae at Emerald Hills and the Emerald Hills Shopping Village to name a few. Outside of property development, he has also diversified the company’s portfolio including into the agriculture sector via Vitocco Pastoral Company with 500 head of cattle as well as the Food & Beverage industry via the renowned Max Brenner chain and Benchmark Patisserie Australia. Alongside his commercial interests, Arnold is a noted philanthropist, donating his time and resources to a range of causes including as a Board Member of the Ingham Institute of Medical Research, the Vitocco Family Kitchen and the Vitocco Legacy Project at the Parramatta Powerhouse donating $5m. Our exclusive discussion with Arnold charts his family’s background, his key achievements in both business and life, the fundamentals for success and the next chapter in the evolution of Vitocco Enterprises. Proudly produced, licensed, and distributed exclusively by Ready Media Group. ‘The Interview’ - the only series trusted by Australia’s most successful business leaders.

Joining our series for a rare and exclusive profile is special guest, billionaire Shesh Ghale - Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer of MIT Group, renowned property developer & global philanthropist. In an extraordinary tale of success defined by resilience, adaptation and hard-work, Shesh has risen from a childhood spent in the rugged mountains of Nepal in the early 1960’s through to an early education in the Former USSR of Ukraine, ultimately culminating in the decision to re-locate to Australia in 1990 and embarking on a career-defining pursuit into the educational and property investment industries. Following his high school education in Nepal, Shesh moved to Ukraine and studies a Bachelor / Master of Civil Engineering at Kharkiv National University on a Government Scholarship, graduating in 1986 before returning to Nepal to work as a project engineer in the Government’s transport department. Seeking greater access to career opportunities, Shesh then moved to Australia in 1990 and embarked on further study, enrolling in a Master of Business Administration degree at Victoria University graduating in 1994 - his wife, Jamuna Gurung followed and re-located to Australia in 1991. Having experienced first hand the quality of education offered through the university system in Western countries, Shesh identified an opportunity to provide world-class study pathways largely targeted

toward international students in Melbourne, therein establishing the Melbourne Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1996 alongside Jamuna. Over the course of the past twenty-five years, Shesh & Jamuna have grown MIT into one of Australia’s most successful private tertiary education institutions, with purpose-built campuses in both Melbourne & Sydney and a cohort of over four-thousand students per annum. Capitalising on their natural entrepreneurial institution, the pair began investing in commercial property in the early 2000’s, successfully acquiring and divesting of multiple assets across Melbourne’s CBD including Tomasetti House, The Argus Building, Sir Charles Hotham Building, 386 - 412 William Street, 388 Lonsdale Street and 154 - 158 Sussex Street in Sydney’s CBD amongst others. In addition to his extensive domestic property interests, Shesh also has a number of investments globally including Sheraton Kathmandu Nepal held through his family office, The Ghale Group - he has also donated his time and considerable resources to a number of philanthropic and community-based organisations. Our exclusive interview with Shesh Ghale explores his background, his passion for education, his deal-making in the commercial property sector and the key ingredients that have enabled him to become one of Australia’s most successful individuals.

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4 – October / November 2026

October / November 2026 – 5