IndustrialKirsten CrazeMon 05 Oct 26
Build Starts on ALDI’s ‘Special Buy’ Amid Aerotropolis Land Grabs
Just weeks from the opening of Western Sydney International Airport, major businesses are staking a claim in the neighbouring 11,200ha Western Sydney Aerotropolis.
Spanning parts of Liverpool and Penrith, and close to Camden, the precinct has Bradfield City Centre at its heart, where an advanced manufacturing, technology and employment hub is taking shape south of the airport.
Builder Richard Crookes Constructions has commenced construction on Aldi’s $1-billion automated distribution centre, approved in May this year and due to open in 2030.
The centre will occupy 22ha within Ingham Property Group’s 182ha industrial estate at Bradfield, replacing Aldi’s existing NSW distribution facilities at Minchinbury, Prestons and Eastern Creek.
Its floor area is now 108,000sq m, up from the 87,000sq m approved. According to Aldi, its robotic warehouse will handle more than 680,000 product cases a day at peak, and about 2.5 million pallets a year.
Aldi Australia chief executive Anna McGrath said the facility would support the retailer’s expansion plans.
“The automated distribution centre in Bradfield will support our growth ambitions for the future, as we add approximately 100 additional Aldi stores nationally,” she said.
“This will help us bring our great-quality, low-price offer to more Australian communities. We are investing in technology, automation and more sustainable infrastructure that will enable us to keep delivering on that promise in the future.”
Western Sydney infrastructure takes flight
Cargo operations are already under way at Western Sydney International Airport—also known as Nancy-Bird Walton Airport—with Qantas Freight commencing services in July ahead of the passenger opening.
The airport’s 24-hour cargo capability, combined with new road and rail infrastructure, is helping establish the Aerotropolis as a major logistics hub.
Cushman & Wakefield’s national director David Hall said the infrastructure is changing how investors and occupiers view the region.
“Buyers are increasingly looking beyond established infill locations and targeting scale, infrastructure access and long-term positioning,” he said.
According to Hall, more than $26 billion in private development applications and an estimated 120,000 to 200,000 future jobs are underpinning the region’s emergence as a major employment hub.
Transactions have already landed
In August 2025, Goodman acquired 1.96 million square metres at 235 Martin Road, Badgerys Creek for $575 million. In the same month, Bull Capital paid $38.5 million for a nearby lot of 101,621sq m at 2241-2253 Elizabeth Drive.
Other transactions include the $9.5-million acquisition of 20,798sq m at 263-273 Luddenham Road, Orchard Hills in October 2025 and a $22.5-million owner-occupier purchase of 26,960sq m at 1990 Elizabeth Drive, Badgerys Creek in December.
Residential development entering the equation
In September this year, a 40ha landholding at 136 Gates Road, Luddenham, marketed as Bradfield Residential Estates, was launched with price expectations of more than $150 million.
Cushman & Wakefield manager of investment sales in NSW Jake Smith said the parcel would likely draw widespread interest.
The site is 4.5km from the airport and its potential residential outcome remains subject to rezoning and planning approvals.
Cushman & Wakefield’s executive of brokerage logistics and industrial Archie Cropley said Aerotropolis is taking shape as Australia’s next industrial “supercluster”.
“The Aerotropolis is more than a logistics precinct, it’s a catalyst for the Western Parkland City and a structural shift in how Sydney’s industrial markets operate,” he said.
