$44m redevelopment approved for Sydney’s former Roche HQ

The owners of the iconic former headquarters of pharmaceutical giant Roche on Sydney’s northern beaches have won council approval for a $44 million redevelopment of the site.

The project is set to be one of the biggest industrial developments the northern beaches has seen “for a long time”.

Sydney-based real estate fund manager and developer EG who bought it through Perpetual Corporate Trust is hoping to start construction of the Northern Beaches Business Park later this year or early in 2021.

EG bought the 7.46ha site at 100 South Creek Rd, Cromer, from Roche in 2017 for $60.5 million.

The site was owned by Roche Products Australia for more than half a century. The pharmaceutical and healthcare company first distributed its products from premises in central Sydney before moving to the Cromer site in 1964.

Roche has since relocated its headquarters to the Sydney CBD, on the edge of the city’s waterfront precinct of Barangaroo.

EG’s associate director, Sean Fleming, said development application was granted this week.

“It will be one of the biggest industrial developments on the northern beaches for a long time,” he said.

An artist’s impression of the new Northern Beaches Business Park.

An artist’s impression of the new Northern Beaches Business Park

“In a market starved of local investment, EG is thrilled to be injecting back into the economy of the Northern Beaches Local Government Area.”

The company expects the construction phase and new tenants will bring up to 600 new jobs to the local area.

Formerly the headquarters of pharmaceutical company, Roche, the $44 million site redevelopment will include self-storage facilities, commercial office space, a cafe, and 11 warehouse and distribution units.

“The project offers the potential for a diverse range of local urban service outcomes, including creative and hi-tech industries, modern warehousing local business ‘start-up’ incubators and a place for innovation,” said EG’s development director Grant Flannigan.

Important heritage elements of the site will be preserved for sympathetic adaptive re-use, including former Roche office buildings, a residence, associated landscape features and the iconic hexagonal five-storey tower.

An artist’s impression of the new Northern Beaches Business Park.

An artist’s impression of the new Northern Beaches Business Park.

The redevelopment is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2021, Fleming said.

He said he expected the new business park would have up to 16 tenants, and talks were already underway with a number of businesses.

EG expects to retain ownership of the redeveloped site, which is held on one title.

“Our investors are some of Australia’s largest superannuation funds and industrial (investment property) has been relatively resilient during COVID,” Fleming said.

An artist’s impression of the new Northern Beaches Business Park.

EG has a development pipeline value of more than $2.1 billion. During the past 20 years, the company has earned a respected reputation for creating sustainable and cohesive urban spaces, delivering high-quality residential and mixed-use projects to create connected communities.

Projects includes the award-winning mixed-use sites The Flour Mill at Summer Hill and Tempo at Drummoyne as well as residential sites The Canterbury in Melbourne, Bosco in Five Dock, The Herald at Newcastle and the multiple award-winning Pindari development in Randwick.

This article from the Manly Daily originally appeared as “Developer wins approval for $44m redevelopment of former Roche headquarters in Cromer”.