Macquarie Park, NSW’s largest business precinct outside of the Sydney CBD, has this year attracted the highest amount of new office tenants since before the global financial crisis.
Displaced after their existing sites were rezoned for residential development, companies are moving into the office park, which is expected to be home to more than 57,500 workers by next year.
But it also signals the 880,000 square metre hub has come-of-age after being built more than two decades ago, according to CBRE director Geoff Hunt.
“There are two things that have happened. First, there is the push from residential rezoning and Sydney’s strong housing market forcing companies to look at new areas,” Mr Hunt said.
“On top of that, the business community is now identifying Macquarie Park as a matured market thanks to significantly improved transport, the recently revamped Macquarie Shopping Centre and an influx of new cafes and wine bars.”
Over the first three months of the year, net absorption at Macquarie Park totalled 21,115sqm. It is the highest amount for the business park since 2007. In the largest deal, the world’s largest supplier of building technologies UTC Building & Industrial Systems has signed an eight year lease for 9000sqm of space at Stockland’s 33-39 Talavera Road complex.
Along with gaming equipment company IGT, UTC Building & Industrial Systems was forced to move after capitalising on developer demand and selling its Ashbury site in the inner west. IGC moved after its Rosebery office was sold to Meriton to be converted into apartments.
DEXUS has meanwhile signed on three new tenants at 11 Talavera Road – gaming machine giant IGT (on a 10 year lease for 2563sqm), Solaris Paper (272sqm) and Energizer (880sqm).
“Importantly, each of the new lessees has relocated from other locations to Macquarie Park, translating to strong net absorption for the precinct. This demonstrates how Macquarie Park has matured as a market,” Mr Hunt said.
The result is Macquarie Park’s vacancy rate is likely to move below 7 per cent before the end of the year, compared with just under 9 per cent at the beginning of the year, according to CBRE, who negotiated the majority of the leases. Most achieved a rate per sq m of $300 net, a strong outcome given most buildings are more than a decade old.
Elsewhere the North West Rail Link project team has secured 8400sqm of sublease space at 22 Giffnock Avenue, a significant commitment for the precinct. Other transactions include global healthcare company Abbott Australasia committing to 4300sqm at 299 Lane Cove Road and electronics company Ricoh signing a lease for 4000sqm at 2 Richardson Place.
