This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
CARPET maker Interface Australia has leased one of the greenest manufacturing facilities in Australia, a 24,000 sqm complex at Minto in Sydney’s south-west.
The new complex is a replacement site for Interface Australia’s Picton manufacturing facility, which burned down in July last year. The deal was brokered by CBRE with landlord Altis Property Partners in a $2 million per annum, 15-year deal.
Interface Australia managing director Clinton Squires said the new facility would consolidate activities previously performed across three separate sites at Picton and Eastern Creek.
“Following the factory fire at Picton last year, the first priority for Interface Australia had been to recommence production as soon as possible and to retain existing staff. This dictated the new facility needed to be within a reasonable commuting radius of the previous site. Secondly, the new site needed to meet Interface’s internal benchmarks concerning its impact on the environment.
“We have leased a building in the precinct around the Inter Modal Shipping Terminal at Minto, giving us efficient access to truck and rail transport. We’re also very close to a passenger railway station, giving our employees a choice of how they commute,” he added.
Squires said he was pleased with the site at Minto, and the operating terms which included the flexibility to alter the industrial-warehouse property to industrial-manufacturing. Interface also retains an option to buy the site.
Squires said one of the reasons that Interface needed the 24,000 sqm floor area was to accommodate a recycling program, in which property owners can return their used carpet tiles to Interface to be recycled locally into new carpet tiles and other products.
“This deal is a win for the environment as well as shareholders and employees,” he said.
The property was originally permitted for use as industrial warehousing but Altis – with expedited approval processes at the Campbelltown City Council, and consulting work by CBRE Town Planning – allowed the property to be approved for use as an industrial manufacturing site.
Altis Property Partners managing director Shaun Hannah said the Minto Interface lease had been complex and had been completed within tight deadlines.
“Interface wanted the property for a slightly amended purpose and they had to move quickly. We are pleased with the quality of Interface as a tenant and the fact that they have signed a 15-year lease,” Hannah said.
CBRE’s Brendan Jordan said the lease was complex.
“Interface has an international relationship with CBRE, so we know them as a client. With the Minto lease, Interface needed an existing building and it had to be approved for manufacturing. Our team worked very hard with the local council to have this signed off, and we are happy with the result. It’s a great location for Interface and we’re glad we could contribute to keeping some manufacturing capacity in Australia.” Jordan concluded.
Property Review
