Data CentresLeon Della BoscaFri 29 May 26
Stockland Swaps Warehouses for $2bn Melbourne Data Centre
Stockland is forging ahead with its data centre strategy, launching plans which would replace nearly half of its existing west Melbourne distribution site.
The proposed facility would occupy just under half of the existing distribution centre at 413 Francis Street, on the northern section of the 22ha in Brooklyn’s industrial precinct, 10km from the Melbourne CBD.
The application has been submitted through the Victorian Government’s Development Facilitation Program and is now under review by the Department of Transport and Planning.
Brooklyn Industrial Precinct is described by Stockland as one of few Melbourne locations with the zoning and grid capacity required for data centre operations.
The site has access to the necessary high-voltage power grids and fibre-optic networks that are prerequisites making Melbourne’s western suburbs increasingly attractive to hyperscale operators, Stockland said.
Designed without water-based cooling systems, the facility would use energy-efficient technologies to reduce power consumption.
According to Stockland, replacing the distribution centre with a data centre, which has an end value of more than $2 billion, would result in less intensive industrial activity on the site overall, with fewer heavy vehicle movements once operational.
The Brooklyn Distribution Centre currently has 10 warehouses and adjacent office space, operates 24 hours, 7 days a week and has 130,161sq m of gross lettable area.
Space is currently available in 8668sq m building D and 10,559sq m building F at the Brooklyn Distribution Centre, 100m from the West Gate Freeway.
The Brooklyn proposal is one of several data centre projects Stockland is advancing across the eastern seaboard.
In February the company confirmed it had secured power for 350MW of data centre development across two Melbourne sites: Cherry Lane in Laverton North and the Brooklyn Distribution Centre.
A separate application, filed in April with Fife Capital, proposes a $3.95-billion, 168MW facility across 12 data halls at Kemps Creek in western Sydney.
Stockland’s $718-million MPark development at Talavera Road in Macquarie Park received State Significant Development approval earlier this year.
In March, Stockland formalised a 50:50 joint venture with EQT-backed EdgeConneX to develop, own and operate a portfolio of data centres, with the arrangement giving the partnership access to Stockland’s industrial land holdings in major Australian markets.
Subject to planning approval, a detailed project timeline for the Brooklyn facility would be confirmed.
