This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
CHARLIE Buxton’s Cadence Property Group has completed 50-hectare industrial estate in Melbourne’s western suburb of Truganina, securing a pre-lease with Laverton Cold Storage (LCS) for the delivery of a $120 million purpose-built cold storage facility.
The 23,118 sqm facility will be constructed on a 3.8-hectare site within The Crossing, is targeting a 5-Star Green Star rating with two megawatts of rooftop solar and state of the art warehouse management and automation technology.
LCS is seeking to expand its storage capacity and operational footprint on the back of growing client demand. Its new facility will including over 16,000 sqm of freezer space to be chilled up to -24 degrees Celsius, a large temperature-controlled staging area, and space for blast freezing.
The deal represents one of the biggest commitments in the cold storage sector in Melbourne in recent times.
“Cadence has been working closely with LCS for several months to optimise the design of the facility and concurrently progress town planning and detailed design activity,” Buxton said.
“Due to a severe undersupply of prime cold storage space in the Australian market and the largely non- discretionary demand drivers that support the sector, we have really strong conviction in the cold storage asset class, particularly at this stage in the cycle.”
LCS founder Richard Ralph said the facility will provide a pivotal boost to cold storage supply chain capacity for meats and poultry from regional areas.
“It will create thousands of jobs and huge opportunities for people that otherwise may not be there, so I think that’s something that will inspire us all as we get this underway.”
Texco Construction has commenced delivery of the facility on site, targeting an operational date for late 2025.
Home to 150 businesses, the $700 million The Crossing estate is situated at the intersection of Leakes and Forsyth Road, within one of Australia’s fastest growing residential and employment catchments and in close proximity to major road, rail and port infrastructure.
Cadence acquired the site in 2016 and has progressively developed the estate over eight stages via small and large lot subdivision and built form development.
The new facility for LCS is partly funded by the Cadence Australian Real Estate Partnership I (CAREP I), Cadence’s maiden multi-asset value add fund, with the remaining equity raised from private investors.
