Mirvac displays industrial might with ART tie up
Mirvac’s head of office & industrial, Campbell Hanan.
Listed developer Mirvac has snared a capital partner for two industrial parks in the hot western Sydney market, with the tie-up worth about $600m.
Superannuation fund Australian Retirement Trust is in prime position on the portfolio.
Mirvac said last month it had signed heads of agreement and was in exclusive due diligence with “an aligned long-term capital partner” for 49 per cent of its industrial venture.
This included the Switchyard development in Auburn and Aspect North in Kemps Creek.
The deal is being brokered by Chris O’Brien of CBRE, but the agent and parties declined to comment.
Mirvac has not revealed the partner’s identity but expects to complete the venture this quarter, with Switchyard to settle in fiscal 2023 and Aspect North in 2024. The under development projects have been held at values reflecting their incomplete states, with the Auburn project at $137.1m and Kemps Creek at $84.2m. But their end value also reflects the boom in logistics assets.
Australian Retirement Trust, the super fund formed through the merger of Sunsuper and QSuper, is one of Australia’s largest, and Mirvac had a long-running relationship with Sunsuper.
In 2021, Sunsuper pulled a mandate to run about $1.5bn in property from AMP Capital, awarding key properties to Mirvac. Sunsuper also took a half-stake in Mirvac’s $460m-plus retail and office redevelopment at the historic Locomotive Workshops in Sydney’s South Eveleigh.
Mirvac said in February it was making strong progress on its industrial development pipeline, with Switchyards 76 per cent committed and due to be finished in the next six months. Aspect was 64 per cent committed and the first building in the Northern Precinct due for completion by the end of 2023.
Switchyard was the first project to commence in Mirvac’s $2.3bn-plus industrial development pipeline and showed its capability in delivering new-style green industrial projects.
Switchyard is near the Parramatta CBD and is well-placed to benefit from significant infrastructure investment, including the WestConnex project, which boosts road connectivity to Port Botany and Sydney airport.
The 14-hectare site will be a state-of-the-art industrial estate that blends flexible warehousing, office space and small-scale local amenities across about 72,000sq m. The logistics facility had an end value of about $277m.
Mirvac’s redevelopment of the site was initially in a joint venture with a Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investing fund, but the listed group bought out the US fund last September. Building is underway, with a targeted completion by the end of fiscal 2023.
Aspect is a 56ha site with direct frontage to Mamre Rd and has an end value of more than $700m. The precinct was rezoned in 2020 and was targeted to be Mirvac’s first carbon-neutral industrial development.
Premium brands Lineage, CEVA Logistics and Winning Group have committed to Aspect.
