The company was established by Dick Dusseldorp to provide finance for building contracts being undertaken by Civil and Civic. In 1961 the company acquired Civil and Civic from Bredero's Bouwbedrijf.
In 1999 the company formed Actus Lend Lease with the acquisition of Actus Corporation's MILCON and technical service construction management business, and augmented this business with professionals from Lend Lease Design and Lend Lease Development. Also in 1999 the Company acquired Bovis from P&O, which now forms Lend Lease Project Management & Construction. Then in 2000 it bought AMRESCO's commercial mortgage business In 2001, Lend Lease acquired Delfin Property Group (now Lend Lease Communities) for $172 million. It went on to buy Crosby Homes (now Lend Lease Residential Development) for circa £240 million in 2005.
In 2005 the company moved its headquarters from Australia Square in Sydney to The Bond on Hickson Road.
In 2009, Lend Lease Corporation acquired Babcock and Brown Communities, rebranding the business as Lend Lease Primelife. At the time, this acquisition made Lend Lease Australia's largest provider of retirement villages.
In 2010, Lend Lease announced their first foray into the consumer market with Lend Lease Solar. The subsidiary was wound up in early 2011, with no explanation as to why the division had closed.
As of 17 Feb 2011 Lend Lease announced wider ranging changes to its group of brands. This announcement means the retirement of the Bovis, Delfin, Vivas, Catalyst and Primelife brands which will now referred to using the unified Lend Lease brand.
In late February 2011, Lend Lease acquired DASCO in order to position itself to take advantage of the impending Obama administration Health sector boom. The company was immediately rebranded as Lend Lease DASCO, and operates independently of the Lend Lease Americas business.
In March 2011, Lend Lease completed the acquisition of Valemus Group (previously known as Bilfinger Berger Australia) from Bilfinger Berger Group, subsidiaries of Valemus include: Abigroup, Baulderstone and Conneq (formerly Bilfinger Berger Services). The Valemus brand was retired and replaced with Lend Lease in 2011.
In late 2012, the Victorian Government instituted a ban on Lend Lease to tender for Government work, due to laws to prohibit "friendly deals" between building contractors and trade unions.
Soaring Heights is one of Lend Lease’s Public Partnerships business in the US. The 6 MW solar development at Soaring Heights Communities LLC is the largest solar powered community in the continental U.S., producing more than 10 million kilowatt hours of electricity, providing an estimated 75 percent of the community’s energy needs.
The company operates in more than 40 countries around the world. In all of these, the Lend Lease Project Management & Construction division constructs and manages large building projects. The company runs additional businesses in certain markets, including apartment development, greenfield residential development, investment management of unlisted property funds, property management, Real Estate sales and leasing, Public Private Partnerships, Infrastructure Development and Venture Capital investment in innovative technologies. Some operation projects are these:
Lend Lease Investment Management is the largest developer of public-private defence housing in the United States. The company also owns retail assets throughout the US.
Lend Lease Project Management & Construction (previously Bovis Lend Lease) was the major contractor for the Ground Zero Memorial in New York, in addition to a number of other major public buildings throughout the US.
Lend Lease Dasco is a United States leader in the development, financing, leasing and management of medical office buildings and outpatient facilities. Lend Lease specialised exclusively in the development of medical real estate for more than 23 years, has developed more than 3.8 million square feet, acquired 1.5 million square feet and currently manages more than 2.0 million square feet of medical office space.
Lend Lease Project Management & Construction (previously Bovis Lend Lease) constructs significant retail and mixed use projects for Lend Lease's Investment Management Business, and Lend Lease's Development Business as well as working for external third party clients. Post Construction, Lend Lease's Retail Business manage the day-to-day operations of retail assets. In Asia, Lend Lease operations throughout Singapore, Malaysia, China, and Japan. Projects and assets include the construction of the Petronas Towers.
Lend Lease Development – Concentrates on large scale urban regeneration in key areas. Currently, the group has secured significant urban regeneration projects in Sydney at Barangaroo South, in Melbourne at Docklands, Victoria, in Brisbane at the RNA Showgrounds – The Green, and around Adelaide's Adelaide Oval.
Lend Lease Communities (previously Delfin Lend Lease) falls within Lend Lease Development, and is Australia's largest developer of Master Planned Communities. One of Lend Lease's more controversial Communities projects is their development for housing and industry of the former Australian Defence Industries (ADI) land at St Marys (Ropes Crossing & Jordan Springs) in Western Sydney. Their ADI property is the largest intact area of the biodiverse and endangered plant community, the "Cumberland Plain Woodland". Some of the group's major Communities projects include Springfield Lakes, Queensland, Caroline Springs, Victoria, Alkimos, Western Australia and Mawson Lakes, South Australia
Lend Lease Project Management & Construction (previously Bovis Lend Lease), now known as Lendlease Building, operates across Australia both for internal Lend Lease businesses and external clients. The Project Management & Construction Business was previously known as Civil & Civic and was successful in constructing Australia's first 5 star as built (The Bond, Sydney – Lend Lease's Global Headquarters) and 6 star as built (The Gauge Melbourne) commercial buildings. The Project Management & Construction Business has undertaken a range of significant and iconic buildings including Queensland Gallery of Modern Art, Royal Children's Hospital, Gold Coast University Hospital, ANZ Centre, Aurora Tower (Brisbane), Aurora Place (Sydney) & Sunshine Plaza (Sunshine Coast).
Lend Lease Retirement (previously Retirement by Design and Primelife) operates Retirement Living, Serviced Apartments and Aged Care living options across the country. In addition, Lend Lease's Retirement Business is Australia's largest retirement communities developer.
Lend Lease Investment Management owns and operates built form investments on behalf of the group and various unlisted fund investors. The business manages a number of major retain centre including Cairns Central, Sunshine Plaza, Lakeside Joondalup, Mid City Centre, and Greensborough Plaza. The Group also manages investment portfolios which include part of the Central Plaza Complex in Brisbane, and other a-grade office, retail, industrial and community development sites around the country.
Lend Lease Infrastructure (previously both Valemus and Bilfinger Berger Australia) is the second largest construction and engineering specialist business in Australia.
Major projects undertaken by Lend Lease Infrastructure to date include:
Adelaide Oval Redevelopment - completed in March 2014
The National September 11 Memorial and Museum - Completed in September 2011
Sydney Opera House – completed in 1973
Anzac Bridge – completed in 1995
Graham Farmer Freeway – completed in 2000
Kurilpa Bridge – completed in 2009
Clem Jones Tunnel – completed in 2010
Gateway Bridge Duplication – completed in 2011
Lend Lease Public Private Partnerships – utilises a stake in the investment vehicle Capella Capital. Lend Lease provides equity where appropriate for Capella capital projects, with Lend Lease being the preferred developer, builder, project manager, construction contractor on the investment. Recent Public Private Partnership involved InterContinental Hotels Group and Lend Lease (US), where they joined forces in the Privatization of Army Lodging to deliver quality hotel experience to United States Army Soldiers, their Families, and official guests of the United States Army. This partnership created IHG Army Hotels, a division of InterContinental Hotels Group.
Lend Lease Project Management & Construction (previously Bovis Lend Lease) operates throughout the European Union and the Middle East on various property and infrastructure related construction projects. Lend Lease's projects in this region include the Torino 2006 winter games facility, Durrat al Bahrain, Warsaw Trade Tower, Prague Ruzyně Airport T2 & Sheremetyevo International Airport T3 Moscow.
Lend Lease Investment Management operates and manages assets owned by Lend Lease managed property funds. These include shopping centres such as Bluewater, Touchwood Solihull and previously the Overgate Centre also operates a retail development investment business in the UK, the third largest in that market, and is a developer of retail properties in its own right. It also conducts many "public-private partnership" developments with the UK government, particularly concentrating on hospital and defence housing estate developments.
Lend Lease Residential Development (previously Crosby Lend Lease) has been designing and constructing homes for over 80 years. The business now focuses primarily on inner city urban regeneration opportunities within the UK. Projects include i-land – Birmingham, Clarence Dock – Leeds, Hungate – York & Potato Wharf – Manchester.
Lend Lease Project Management & Construction (previously Bovis Lend Lease) has significant history in the UK having originated in the 1850s as W C Bovis. The division constructed the 2012 London Olympic Games Village, London's Millennium Dome, The Curve Theatre, Leicester, Media City UK, Royal Festival Hall & BBC's Scotland Headquarters The company has built, managed and operated eight major Private Finance Initiative hospitals in the UK.
In 2013 Lend Lease was criticized for their involvement in proposals to enlarge a coal port terminal on the edge of the Great Barrier Reef. Proposals included dredging and the dumping of material in the sea. Bloomberg reported in February 2014 that Lend Lease did not take part in the planned expansion after a mandate for the project lapsed.
In 2015 Lend Lease was recognized for commitment in sustainable real estate practices for retail and office developments.
