Revitalising our portfolio

Not all brownfield developments are newly acquired. Our practice of buying strategically located sites means we already own some older sites well positioned for redevelopment. This is particularly the case in Australia, where we’ve operated for almost thirty years. 

One example is in the Sydney suburb of Smithfield, just 24 km from the CBD. Easy access to Sydney’s motorway network meant customers had long coveted the strategic location of the old Smithfield Distribution Centre, but the property had reached the end of its economic life.

This year we completed the transformation of this outdated warehouse into a flexible, modern multi-unit estate. Now, Gateway@Smithfield houses eight customer units across two buildings, providing 46,455 sqm GLA. 

As part of our sustainability commitment, we installed 1.14MW of solar for the new development. We also included provisions for EV charging on 10% of the car spaces, LED lighting with daylight harvesting capabilities in all warehouse spaces, translucent roof sheeting and 5kL rainwater collection tanks. 

Brownfield redevelopments are complex, and Smithfield was no exception. The timing of the regeneration project meant that strict lockdowns were in place during some of the process, while the team also had to contend with sustainably managing contaminated materials during the demolition and building process.

The site is now fully leased to a range of customers who appreciate the easy access and proximity to 4.5 million consumers within a 60-minute drive time.