Abacus Files $50m Parramatta Industrial Plans

Abacus Group has filed plans for a substantial warehouse project as it looks to capitalise on logistics demand in the Greater Sydney region.

The developer is planning the $50-million speculative warehousing and distribution centre at 181 James Ruse Drive, Camellia, 27km north-west of the CBD,  according to the development application filed with the City of Parramatta Council.

Phase 1 of the proposal will allow for preparation works and storage facility development.

Upon securing a tenant, the storage premises will be replaced by two warehouses, the first of 13,866sq m, and the second of 13,024sq m, each with 670sq m of office floor space. 

The project would have parking for 122 cars, as well as a loading zone with capacity for 16 heavy vehicles. 

Abacus owns the wider site, which is bounded by the Parramatta River and Stage 1 of the Parramatta Light Rail Line to the east.

It will be a relatively straightforward build for Abacus, as the site is unoccupied save for the remnant foundations of a demolished industrial buildings. 

▲ Industrial has been considered the ‘golden child’ of real estate assets.

While the Camellia-Rosehill Place Stratey has been finalised and will guide the development of a new town centre in the longer term, Abacus noted that there is an “interim need for a large-format land-use outcome” in the area.

The ASX-listed developer said it was well established “that the supply side of Greater Sydney’s industrial property market is catching up to buoyant demand for manufacturing, logistic and warehouse floorspace across the region”.

A recent report by Oxford Economics Australia, commissioned by the Property Council of Australia, found that $1.2-trillion worth of goods flow through Australia’s ‘big sheds’ every year.

The PCA identified that the target tenants in industrial assets are transport, postal and warehousing businesses (31 per cent) followed by 26 per cent retail and 11 per cent wholesale businesses.