This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
GLOBAL animal health company Zoetis Australia is spending $350 million to acquire most of the former CSL site in Melbourne’s biomedical precinct and set up a new manufacturing facility.
The Victorian government acquired the 11.2-hectare site on Poplar Road in Parkville from CSL as the biotechnology giant moved its global headquarters to a brand-new tower within the CBD edge suburb, which was opened last year.
Zoetis Australia is understood to have since acquired most of the Poplar Road property from the state government.
Victorian Minister for Precincts Colin Brooks told reporters that the terms of government’s purchase from CSL were commercial in confidence.
As for the part of the property it has retained, he said, “We’ll look at the best strategic use for that part of the site”.
“The agreement includes a capital investment to help establish sovereign manufacturing capabilities, the creation of up to 95 jobs and the acquisition of the majority of the former CSL site at Poplar Road,” a statement from Brooks and Minister for Jobs and Industry Natalie Hutchins said.
“Securing Zoetis Australia in Victoria will enhance Australia’s sovereign capabilities within the health technology sector, ensuring Australia’s livestock and domestic animal industries have access to life-saving vaccines, innovative new products and diagnostic tools.”
Zoetis CEO, Kristin Peck, said, “This investment will enable us to meet future demand for essential veterinary and livestock vaccines in Australia – as we look to expand capacity, upgrade our production capabilities, and facilitate exports to new markets.”
“Given we provide 75% of the vaccines for cattle and sheep across Australia, the site is absolutely critical,” she said.
Brooks said, “It’s a $350 million vote of confidence in Melbourne to secure the old CSL site for Zoetis, and as we continue to invest in infrastructure and housing in the area, Parkville will only further cement itself as a world-leading biomedical hub”.
The new Parkville Metro Tunnel station is set to open a year ahead of schedule in 2025 and will service the precinct.
CSL’s operations in Australia and the region continue to grow. In addition to its brand new Elizabeth Street global head office and laboratory, it is undertaking a major expansion of its Broadmeadows plasma fractionation facility, and developing a new purpose-built facility in Melbourne Airport Business Park at Tullamarine.
In 2022, the Victorian government offloaded a Parkville parcel just moments from the CSL site, home to the Evo apartment block, for about $65 million, to NashCap and the Lowy family-backed Assembly Funds Management. The then-Coalition government had bought the completed seven-level building at 107-115 Manningham Street in 2014 as it was to be surrounded by freeways as part of the East West Link project, but the Andrews Labor government scrapped the project soon after. The government copped a loss of more than 25% on the sale.
Last year, Monash University acquired a 5,000 sqm site on the other side of Parkville from the CSIRO for as much as $50 million, and will refurbish the property to expand the Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences facilities.
