Biodiversity Offset Credits – Massive Saving of Habitat and Costs

DJL prides itself on optimising the best layout and approach for subdivision yields and the environmental outcomes. With this attention to detail, and through carefully integrating professional disciplines, DJL can create massive savings to a project.

One specific example of this, is through the design coordination of the project’s biodiversity. The client of one of our local projects inherited a subdivision design from the previous owner. The previous owners sold the site knowing that there was a large biodiversity offset credit obligation that reduced the profitability of the project.

DJL completed a Development Application Modification to realign the subdivision layout, reducing the biodiversity obligation, while maintaining the same property yield. The effort was driven by understanding the site-specific ecology and redesigning the subdivision to avoid and mitigate the critical habitats. Through avoidance and mitigation, the site was able to reduce it’s offset obligation while maintaining the property yield through subdivision.

In addition to the redesign, DJL was able to shop the market for the remaining offset credits, managing the negotiations to save a further 26% of the offset payment required through a private sale.

Case summary:

• Project Gross Yield maintained at $18 Million

• Project saving through reduction in credits obligation $2.1 Million

• Project saving from contract negotiations of credits purchased $500K

• Time taken for this part of the process 6 months

• Environmental impact was greatly reduced for this development