Dexus has continued its prolific investment strategy in Sydney’s southwest, buying an industrial site in Moorebank for $44 million with parent company Dexus Industria REIT.
The 50-50 off-market deal was managed by Colliers’ agents Fab Dalfonso and Rino Gazzera.
Development plans are in place to build a multi-level storage facility across 15 to 20 units – the logistics hub is expected to be completed by mid-2024.
Colliers’ Fab Dalfonso says the 12 Church Street property in Moorebank represents an off-market transaction of an unused facility that was burnt down in 2020.
“Our vendor saw an opportunity to take advantage of the bullish market, demand for available industrial land in Sydney is significant,” Fab says.
The savvy purchase is a part of Dexus Industria REIT’s view of Moorebanks as a significant last-mile logistics centre, given the scarcity of quality logistics facilities in and around Sydney and growing online e-commerce activity further pushing demand for logistics and warehouse spaces.
Fab says institutions are now considering smaller land parcels under 4 hectares because of land constraints contributing to a lack of supply.
“With land rates under pressure in the South West Growth Corridor of Sydney, future concepts will most likely incorporate two-storey warehousing facilities to compensate for land values,” he says.
Current warehouse demand has pushed South Western Sydney vacancy rates under 4.3 per cent, which combined with land shortages, is likely to see multistorey warehousing shaping the next phase of industrial property. Luke Crawford, Director of Industrial Research for Colliers, recently launched a whitepaper ‘Multi-Storey Warehousing in Australia’.
“Multi-level warehouses have existed in the Asia Pacific region for decades, particularly in the more developed markets of Japan, South Korea, Singapore, and Hong Kong, where dense populations and limited land availability have made them a necessity,” Luke says. “With land supply continuing to diminish in the Sydney basin, multistorey warehouses will be the new normal.”
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