This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
PROPERTY funds and development firm Roberts Jones has progressed plans for its Burra Park logistics and industrial estate at Badgerys Creek, submitting a State Significant Development Application (SSDA) with the NSW Department of Planning and Environment (DPE).
Burra Park will span 240 hectares adjoining the future Western Sydney International Airport, also known as Nancy-Bird Walton Airport, and near the future M12 Motorway, in the future Aerotropolis precinct.
The first stage of the development on Elizabeth Drive will create 4,158 direct ongoing jobs and 5,652 indirect jobs, once fully-operational.
Submission comes just a few weeks after the planning framework for the Aerotropolis precinct was finalised, laying the foundation for the transformation of 6,500 hectares of land around the future airport. That will enable the development process to begin across the five initial precincts in Aerotropolis, which are expected to create potential for 100,000 new jobs by 2056. The airport itself is on track to be operational by 2026.
Earlier this year, global logistics operator DHL became the first owner-occupier at Burra Park, after buying 24-hectare portion of the site from Roberts Jones for more than $140 million, and which will house a major logistics campus with four warehouses worth an estimated $180 million.
Roberts Jones’ development agent Boyuan Holdings Limited (BHL), has been working with all levels of government to develop the strategy for Burra Park.
Roberts Jones’ director, Jonathan Pan, said the Burra Park project supports federal and state governments’ ambitions for major job creation and economic development in the Aerotropolis and the wider western Sydney region.
“The site’s close proximity to the Western Sydney International (Nancy Bird Walton) Airport and its connections to other major new infrastructure projects, makes it a sought-after location for a range of local and international logistics and supply chain firms, looking to invest and operate in the heart of the Aerotropolis.”
The SSDA includes bulk earthworks, the delivery of infrastructure and roads and a detailed design for Stage 1 of the Burra Park estate.
“We’re focusing on delivering a quality-designed, sustainable logistics and industrial estate which will act as an economic driver in creating hundreds of new jobs and supporting growth across the Aerotropolis,” BHL COO, Paul Hourigan said.
Roberts Jones gained prominence last year when it picked up 344 hectares of land around the airport for $499.95 million from the Medich family. The land had previously appeared set to be put into the hands of BHL, which had planned an industrial, health and shopping centre precinct that would deliver 38,000 jobs and $14.3 billion to the region’s economy, to be developed by a consortium that included Western Sydney University, Scentre Group, and surgeon Charlie Teo.
However, BHL’s acquisition was never completed, and the property was eventually sold to Roberts Jones. Executives at Roberts Jones have worked at BHL in the past.
A year ago, Roberts Jones sold an 80-hectare parcel in Sydney’s fast-growing south west to major developer Mirvac. It had paid $232 million for the site three years earlier.
Elsewhere in the Aerotropolis, expressions of interest close late in November for 200 acres of land between Luddenham Village and the western pocket of the airport that had expectations of $70 million.
In the middle of the year, a historic 6.67-hectare parcel of land in Luddenham sold for the first time in 152 years, which followed a $70 million, 200-key Marriott-branded offering being announced as the first hotel to open in the Aerotropolis at the future airport.
