Software giant Atlassian commits to Sydney tech hub HQ
Software company Atlassian has stolen a march on internet giant Google by committing to a permanent headquarters in Sydney after the group said it would anchor a yet-to-be-finalised precinct near Central Station.
The entire area is slated for an overhaul by the Berejiklian government, which has longer-term plans for offices, hotels, shopping centres and apartments around and above the station, but property players said the Atlassian-anchored technology precinct would probably be centred on the existing YHA site.
Group chief executive Scott Farquhar and co-founder Mike Cannon-Brookes have long argued for the development of a true technology hub in Sydney but criticised the now collapsed plans to turn the White Bay Power Station into a high-technology area.
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Google worked with Lendlease on a scheme that would have seen it shift to that site, but it pulled out as transport could not be guaranteed. It later worked with Mirvac to move to a site near the Australian Technology Park at Eveleigh, but the NSW government last year rejected that unsolicited proposal.
Google has since bought the Seven Network building in Pyrmont and occupies two other buildings nearby, but has insisted it will seek a longer-term base.
Farquhar this week unveiled hopes for a new precinct that will attract budding entrepreneurs who could see both global companies and start-ups in action, recalling the benefits he and Cannon-Brookes had seen in San Francisco.
“We saw the benefits that come from having a technology ecosystem,” he says.
While the prospective location of Atlassian’s new tower is a closely guarded secret, The Australian has learned it is targeting the YHA site that sits alongside properties controlled by listed heavyweight Dexus and Singaporean group Frasers.
Dexus and Frasers teamed up last year to strike the first major deal in the revitalisation of the area around Central, with the NSW government ushering their plans for a mixed-use precinct into the next stage of its unsolicited bids process. The pair own ageing towers in the heart of a proposed tech hub first announced by Mr Farquhar and the government last year.
Yesterday’s announcement is the first firm commitment by Atlassian to the area and could see it shift out of ISPT’s new George St precinct when its leases expire.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian is promoting the broader area as the Sydney Innovation and Technology Precinct at Central-Eveleigh and called the Atlassian “agreement in principle” to create a new Sydney headquarters near the station a milestone.
“The Sydney Innovation and Technology Precinct will become the digital destination for all of Australia, with thousands of people working and learning, and I am delighted Atlassian will be part of this future,” she says.
This article originally appeared on www.theaustralian.com.au/property.
