Green light for data centre half the size of the Rialto
The Labor government has approved an eight-level Melbourne data centre with almost half the area of the Rialto Towers.
US-based PGIM has secured final approval for the first building of a multi-stage, multi-billion-dollar data centre campus at 1 Oroya Drive, Truganina.
With an 80-megawatt capacity, it will contain 43,357 square metres.
The permit was issued through the Victorian Government’s Development Facilitation Program, a ministerial pathway for eligible commercial and infrastructure projects.
The process bypasses local council assessment and third-party appeal rights.
Major data centre planned
US-based PGIM paid $165.6 million earlier this year for the 20.7ha Truganina site earmarked for the campus.
The initial building will rise 34 metres
A 220kV connection and substation have been approved to link the land with the future Truganina Terminal Station. The development includes a data hall, plant areas, water infrastructure, a guard house, and a three-level office component. Construction costs are estimated at $422m. The project’s total end value is expected to circle $1.2 billion
The Rialto complex contains c90,900 sqm – c58,000 sqm across 55 levels in the South Tower and c33,000 sqm over 43 floors in the North Tower.
Not even the biggest
With an 80-megawatt capacity, the Truganina data centre isn’t the biggest earmarked for Melbourne.
In Mickleham, AirTrunk has lodged plans through the Development Facilitation Program for a campus at 45 Donnybrook Road (continues below).
It is paying $350m for the 67.1ha holding at the south-west corner of the Hume Highway.
Seven buildings are planned with an ultimate capacity exceeding one gigawatt.
Separately, Stockland is seeking approval for a 250-megawatt data centre at its 22ha Brooklyn Distribution Centre, like Truganina, in Melbourne’s west and at 72-76 Cherry Lane, Laverton, the latter with EdgeConneX.
In South Morang, Dover DC is advancing plans for a multi-stage data centre campus targeting up to 320-megawatts across two holdings, including an approved 120-megawatt facility at 525–535 McDonalds Rd and 765 Plenty Rd.
Zerra is also planning a major facility of this type on part of the ex-Ford site at Campbellfield.
Meanwhile, Goodman has submitted a proposal for two data centre buildings spanning 16.2ha of a 53.2ha site at 585 Berwick-Cranbourne Rd, Clyde North.
The $1.1b scheme on land owned by Neil Werrett’s Galileo Group—part-owner of champion racehorse Black Caviar—is under assessment by the City of Casey
PGIM will hold 1 Oroya Dve through the GDCF Truganina Trust, managed within its $US2b Global Data Centre Fund.
Global head of data centre investments Morgan Laughlin said the site maintains capacity for further expansion as additional power allocation becomes available.
“We’re capable of building a lot more than the initial 80 megawatts that we have planned, but that will be driven by future power availability,” he added.
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