ESR Australia (ESR) is pleased to announce the acquisition of 44-50 Waterloo Road in Macquarie Park NSW. Located in the tightly held Macquarie Park precinct, ESR Australia secured this rare landbank investment for A$71 million.

Anchored by Macquarie University’s School of Engineering, the fully leased site comprises 7,156 sqm of office and warehouse accommodation on a 1.5 ha site. The property is located immediately adjacent to the Macquarie Park Train Station.

Located in Sydney’s strongest suburban office market, the asset also sits within the Macquarie Park Incentive Precinct which has been earmarked by the NSW Government to be accelerated as a key economic and innovation precinct.

Over the long term, ESR Australia is planning a staged redevelopment of the site into A-Grade office buildings, or adapt the site for data centre use.

Phil Pearce, CEO of ESR Australia, said, “This landbank investment offers exponential opportunity as it provides holding income to allow a staged redevelopment. The area is well placed to capitalise on the changing office landscape with an increase in demand for decentralised office space since the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Mr Pearce added, “We see business park assets as complementary to our core strategy of logistics and industrial property. We’ve strong capability in the development and management of business park space and are pleased to add this strategic asset to our portfolio.”

The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the shift towards a more diverse office market. There is rising demand for suburban office space as businesses either decentralise away from CBDs or transition to a hub and spoke model with a central location plus office space in suburban areas.

Macquarie Park is the third largest office precinct in Sydney, and the strongest suburban office market. The precinct is ideally situated to service this demand, both from an accessibility and cost effectiveness perspective. The area is well connected to major arterials and public transport, with a wide array of amenity.

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