Built for Growth: The People and Expertise Behind Kanebridge Finance Kanebridge Finance: Specialist Lending in South West Sydney
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Built for Growth: The People and Expertise Behind Kanebridge Finance

From its Liverpool headquarters, Kanebridge Finance brings together decades of banking and lending experience to support developers and businesses across one of Sydney’s fastest-growing regions.

By Ruba Jaajaa
Sun, Sep 13, 2026 7:05pmGrey Clock 3 min

South Western Sydney is undergoing a significant transformation. New infrastructure, expanding industries and sustained population growth are creating opportunities for developers and business owners—but they are also producing increasingly complex funding requirements.

Kanebridge Finance has grown alongside this changing market. Established in 1999 and headquartered in Liverpool, the brokerage combines local knowledge with specialist experience across property development, commercial lending, asset finance and working capital.

Rather than relying on a traditional founder-led structure, the business draws on the complementary expertise of three senior leaders: Marwan Rahme, Jon Gawley and Mark Donovan.

Complementary experience, shared direction

Founder Marwan Rahme continues to shape Kanebridge Finance’s broader vision and growth strategy. His focus on innovation and expanding the firm’s capabilities has helped the business evolve well beyond a conventional finance brokerage.

Managing Director Jon Gawley oversees its day-to-day operations and commercial lending activities. A finalist for the 2026 AFG Best Broker – Commercial Lending award, Jon brings more than 20 years of senior business banking experience from NAB and Suncorp. His understanding of how lenders assess commercial transactions is particularly valuable for developers, business owners and borrowers navigating complex funding decisions.

Mark Donovan leads Kanebridge Finance’s asset finance and working capital offering. Recognised as a finalist for the 2026 AFG Best Broker – Asset Finance award, Mark joined the business following almost three decades in NAB’s business banking division. His team supports businesses seeking finance for equipment, construction activity, cash flow and expansion.

Together, the three leaders provide distinct but connected areas of expertise. Clients benefit from access to a broader team while still receiving advice from someone experienced in the particular type of finance their transaction requires.

Experience demonstrated through delivery

Kanebridge Finance’s position has been built through completed transactions and long-term client relationships.

The brokerage has funded approximately $675 million across residential and commercial projects, arranged $300 million in property development finance and supported the successful delivery of more than 100 projects.

These transactions frequently involve the kinds of challenges that require more than a standard lending approach: complicated ownership structures, staged developments, commercial property, business expansion and time-sensitive capital requirements.

The firm’s work has also received industry recognition. Kanebridge Finance was named MPA Magazine’s Commercial Broker of the Year in 2025 and 2026 and received a Global Best in Mortgage award recognising commercial brokers across the Asia-Pacific region, North America and the United Kingdom.

Local knowledge in a rapidly changing region

Liverpool is more than Kanebridge Finance’s head office location. It places the business within one of Australia’s most active development and investment corridors.

The growth associated with Western Sydney International Airport and the Aerotropolis is contributing to wider industrial, logistics, commercial and residential activity throughout South Western Sydney. For local businesses and developers, these opportunities often bring financing questions that cannot be answered by comparing interest rates alone.

Project location, development timing, lender appetite, cash-flow requirements and future expansion plans can all influence how a facility should be structured. Kanebridge Finance’s presence in the region gives its team an informed understanding of this environment and the ambitions of the people investing in it.

Specialist support without unnecessary complexity

For clients, the benefit of Kanebridge Finance’s leadership model is straightforward: they can work with one brokerage across several stages of growth without receiving generalised advice.

A developer seeking project funding can draw on the firm’s property and commercial finance experience. A growing company purchasing machinery or vehicles can work directly with its asset finance specialists. A business requiring additional liquidity can explore working capital solutions with advisers who understand business banking and cash flow.

Each client is connected with the expertise most relevant to the transaction, while the wider team remains available as their circumstances evolve.

As investment in South Western Sydney continues, Kanebridge Finance is positioned to support the businesses and developments helping shape the region—combining more than two decades of local presence with the specialist capability required to turn ambitious plans into funded projects.

www.kanebridgefinance.com.au



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The Sydney developer-builder, which typically retains its projects, is offering 54 residences off the plan on Spencer Street, with prices starting at $3.9 million.

HSN Property Group has launched Maison Jolene in Rose Bay, giving buyers a rare opportunity to purchase off the plan from a developer-builder that has spent more than two decades building a predominantly build-to-hold portfolio in Sydney’s eastern suburbs. HSN values that portfolio at $4 billion.

Located at 2–16 Spencer Street, Maison Jolene comprises 54 residences, including house-sized two- and three-bedroom apartments, sub-penthouses and penthouses. Prices start at $3.9 million, according to HSN, with many residences designed to capture views across Rose Bay, Sydney Harbour and the city skyline.

James Nixon, head of projects at The Rubinstein Group, is handling the sales campaign alongside agency founder Gavin Rubinstein. He says the launch is an unusual opportunity for buyers who have followed the developer’s work.

“HSN is renowned for building entire projects and rarely selling a single apartment to the open market, so Maison Jolene really is a first for potential buyers who have been following the brand across previous projects,” Nixon says.

HSN worked with architecture practice MHN Design Union and interiors studio The Unlisted Collective on the development. A rhythm of arches and deep-set openings gives the building its presence on Spencer Street, while the residences are positioned to make the most of natural light, privacy and outlook. Landscaping frames the arrival and carries through to the shared outdoor spaces.

“Maison Jolene was conceived to bring a touch of European elegance to Rose Bay, drawing on the understated charm of Mayfair and the romance of Paris while remaining grounded in the relaxed character of Sydney’s eastern suburbs,” says Rafi Assouline, founder and director of HSN Property Group.

The apartments were designed with established Rose Bay downsizers in mind. Large kitchens, generous storage and flexible living areas are intended to ease the move from a family home, with layouts that can also accommodate families and professionals looking for more space in an apartment.

The shared amenities are designed as an extension of those homes. Residents will have access to a lounge, private dining room and landscaped alfresco entertaining area. A wellness retreat brings together a magnesium pool, cold plunge, sauna, steam room and heated stone recovery bench, alongside a gym and dedicated space for Pilates and yoga.

Inside the apartments, the curves of the façade recur in the cabinetry and balustrades. Custom wall sconces, tapware and patterned parquetry sit alongside carved marble basins, hammered-glass shower screens and recessed stone niches. Timber veneer wardrobes have leather-clad drawers, while an Art Deco-inspired motif appears in the raised ceiling detail, joinery and built-in velvet bedheads.

“Maison Jolene is at once contemporary and old world, with custom-designed parquetry flooring and an art deco-inspired motif juxtaposing with the curvature of the arched facade, balustrade and internal cabinetry,” Assouline says.

The kitchens bring several of those ideas together in a sculptural, bubble-shaped island. Assouline helped design and engineer the curved form and personally selected the marble, which is bookmatched so the veining mirrors across adjoining pieces.

“With each of our projects, I look for symmetry in design,” he says. “Crafting the apartments is like solving a puzzle of one thousand pieces; one little detail wrong could mean the picture doesn’t translate correctly once it’s finished.”

HSN will develop and build Maison Jolene, overseeing the project from design through to construction. The family-owned company says it has delivered more than 270 homes, has 200 apartments under construction and has a 100 per cent completion record.

“As a private, integrated developer-builder, we maintain close control over every stage of a project,” Assouline says. “We see our projects as collaborative partnerships with our architects, interior designers and specialist trades with whom we have refined a very unique aesthetic, to ensure every detail is considered for those who will live there.”

For Nixon, the developer’s involvement in both design and construction is part of the pitch to buyers. “The attention to design excellence, combined with HSN’s proven track record in delivering ultra-high-end developments, ensures a level of rarity and enduring quality seldom seen in today’s market,” he says.

“To purchase an HSN property is to acquire a property that will not just hold its value but stand the test of time as a timeless piece of Sydney real estate.”

The Spencer Street address puts residents close to Rose Bay’s village cafés and restaurants, foreshore walks and ferry service, with beaches, golf courses and schools nearby. Maison Jolene is now selling off the plan through James Nixon and Gavin Rubinstein.

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