Melbourne’s Docklands precinct is set to boom over the next three years, according to Jones Lang LaSalle.
While the Melbourne Docklands is currently home to residential apartment dwellings, according to JLL, more than 246,000 sqm of office accommodation is expected to be built at the Docklands.
So far seven projects have been mooted for the Docklands, including a 10,000 sqm development for National Foods, 10,000 sqm for Customs, 16,000 sqm for IBM, 30,000 sqm for AXA, 10,000 sqm for Ericsson, 70,000 sqm for Victoria Police, 20,000 sqm for Fairfax and 80,000 sqm for ANZ.
According to JLL’s Victorian leasing director Kevin George, the mooted developments could see an addition of 13,000 office workers into the Docklands precinct by 2010.
This would bring forward the build-out date on Docklands to 2015 – 2020 and reduce the available development space in the location by 60%. Significant office development will also bring additional retail, residential and recreational opportunities.
“What we are about to witness is the long anticipated cultural change that will extend beyond the work place and into society.
“Docklands is Australia’s biggest waterfront regeneration project that is refocussing Melbourne to the water.
“Even if 50% of the mooted projects are located in Docklands the change will be profound,” he added.
George said Docklands is an exciting new addition to the Melbourne CBD, which has 3.5 million sqm of space.
“Docklands is not shifting the centre of influence, merely providing suitable space solutions for occupiers of big space. It really is simply an extension of the CBD, not a competing precinct.
“Commercial development is set to see Docklands go through the roof as more than 10,000 workers will potentially be looking for new retailing, residential and recreational opportunities,” George said.
He added the move was the equivalent of 2.5 Rialto buildings – a single building alone that changed the dynamics of the Melbourne CBD to the West when it was completed in the mid 1980s.
George said the potential relocation of these major tenants was generally from quality space so there would be little problem filling the back space they vacated although smaller tenants were likely to fill the larger floors.
“When the State Government moved out of Rialto in 1998 and BHP moved from Bourke Place in 2003 we filled the space relatively quickly, most of it before the tenants vacated.
“The CBD in 2010 is going to be considerably different to the CBD of 2000.
“We now have a world class waterfront. You only have to look at the nightly news bulletins. They all showcase Melbourne from the west, beyond Victoria Harbour,” he added.
By Adam Parsons
