This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
BIOTECH giant CSL will relocate its global headquarters to a purpose-built facility within PDG’s $750 million biomedical and educational development on the former Melford Motors site on the city’s northern edge, at Parkville.
CSL will occupy a 16-storey 35,000 sqm tower abutting the Haymarket roundabout at the top of Elizabeth St opposite the Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre. Nine floors will be devoted to laboratories and clinical facilities.
The headquarters is due to open in 2024 with 800 workers relocating from existing campuses on Poplar Road, Parkville – near Royal Park – and Docklands. Hundreds of jobs will be created during construction.
Victorian Minister for Priority Precincts Gavin Jennings said CSL would establish a major presence in the Parkville biomedical hub on the northern edge of the CBD. The biomed sector is already contributing $16.5 billion to the state’s economy each year.
“This move secures CSL’s global headquarters for Melbourne into the foreseeable future and positions Australia’s own global biomedical leader with some of the world’s finest research and discovery talent,” he added.
CSL boss Paul Perreault said this move positions CSL at the heart of Australia’s biomedical centre of excellence.
“Melbourne’s reputation as a world class centre of biomedical research excellence is well established. The medical research cluster centred around Parkville, comprising the University of Melbourne, the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, the Doherty Institute for Infectious Disease, The Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, the Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre, the Royal Melbourne Hospital, the Royal Women’s Hospital, The Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and the Royal Children’s Hospital, among other institutions is considered a world-class medical precinct and a significant research presence in global terms.
“CSL’s collaborations within the precinct span more than a hundred years. We have opportunities all around the world and R&D in several countries, but we believe the density and quality of medical research activity in Parkville has enormous future potential. As we continue to strengthen our long term collaborations with strategic partners we intend to grow these networks by further embedding key elements of our Australian operations into the nucleus of Melbourne’s medical research district,” Perreault said.
CSL operates in more than 35 countries and has more than 22,000 employees, including 2,500 in Victoria. The company’s existing Parkville campus will be retained as a production site for influenza vaccines and antivenoms while the Broadmeadows manufacturing facility will continue to produce plasma products.
CSL will join Trinity College signed a 25-year term earlier this year to open a new 9,500 sqm vertical campus and Toyota, within the precinct. The carmaker has committed to a 15,000 sqm lease for 55 years. The CSL term is 20 years with options to 60 years.
The three commitments are a major vote of confidence in PDG’s strategy to change the site from residential to commercial use after it acquired the land from Toyota.
Toyota sold the dealership at 611-681 Elizabeth St to PDG two years ago, when the site was slated for a four-tower project with 310 apartments, nearly 700 student accommodation units, and around 5,200 sqm of commercial space.
PDG owns the development across stages one and two. The future precinct will also be built across the adjoining Bob Jane T-Mart site and include three towers set for completion by the middle of 2022.
PDG managing director Vince Giuliano said, “This dynamic precinct will be a foundation for organisations that stand as global exemplars of their industries – driving the growth of knowledge, development of technology and success of Australia’s brightest minds.”
