This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
THE maiden pre-lease of one of Australia’s first multi-level warehouse developments has been secured, as owners increasingly seek ways to maximise returns from assets in Sydney and Melbourne’s land-constrained industrial markets.
KFC Roofing has taken out a 4,600 sqm lease over space on the ground floor of the “Portal” development in Marraville, a 20,000 sqm two-level facility managed by Hale Capital Partners and owned by active industrial investor LaSalle Investment Management.
The deal was secured by Colliers’ Michael Crombie and Trent Gallagher in conjunction with Nathan Egan and Nick Zenonos of CBRE.
Crombie said South Sydney has seen limited new development across the last 10 years with circa 19% growth. More occupiers are looking for well-connected inner city locations – Portal is on the doorstep to Port Botany, and an easy drive to Sydney Airport – at a time of increasing transport costs and heightened demand for last-mile logistics.
“Hale is capitalizing heavily on the demand for infill product in partnership with LaSalle who specialises in multi-level logistics development across the Asia Pacific region. LaSalle has built a successful track record in repositioning and redeveloping assets in its key global markets including Australia.”
Gallagher said that as South Sydney rents continue to climb, occupiers are focusing more on the value of the cubic capacity with the new developments yielding ceiling heights up to 12.4 metres, and the modern development will provide “better value for money”.
Portal will be Australia’s first large-scale industrial multi-level facility. Australia’s industrial market lacks the multi-level facilities that are a regular fixture of land constrained markets such as China, Japan and Hong Kong, where multi-level developments have allowed developers to maximise the gross floor area potential.
Portal will feature one way traffic circulation and functional ramps providing access to level one suitable for semi-trailers.
Other South Sydney multi-storey projects in the wings are at 45 Burrows Road and 520 Gardeners Road, both in Alexandria, by Goodman and Charter Hall respectively, measuring at 16,078 sqm and 27,509 sqm. Goodman is also planning a two-level warehouse at 546-548 Gardeners Road and a three-level, 47,000 sqm facility at 1-3 Burrow Road in St Peters.
The contractor has already commenced on site, with completion anticipated for Q4 of 2023.
