Stockland proposes $2b Melbourne data centre campus
Stockland is planning to replace just under half a Melbourne business park with a data centre campus.
The ASX-listed group has begun community consultation for the staged hyperscale project affecting the northern end of the 22-hectare Brooklyn Distribution Centre estate, near the corner of Geelong and Miller roads, in the inner west.
Buildings, including battery substations, are expected to rise between two to five floors providing capacity up to 250MW.
The developer said the proposal is intended to respond to increasing demand for data storage and cloud infrastructure particularly from artificial intelligence workloads and hyperscale users while retaining logistics operations on the balance of the estate.
“Brooklyn Industrial Precinct is one of the few areas in Melbourne with the right combination of zoning and capacity to connect to high-voltage power grids and fibre-optic networks that a data centre requires,” a statement from the group said.
Brooklyn is about 10 kilometres from town and a little closer to the Port of Melbourne.
High-voltage grid connection capacity: Stockland
The proposed data centre campus at 413 Francis Street sits close to freeway infrastructure and major power transmission networks – attributes sought by operators.
Stockland would deliver it in stages likely affected by tenant pre-commitments.
The end value of the project could exceed $2 billion (continues below).
“As we own the entire site, we are able to design and construct the data centre in a way that limits any impact on the community and surrounding area,” the statement said.
“We are designing it to be energy-efficient, using advanced technologies to minimise power consumption, and not relying on water for cooling purposes to maximise sustainability,” it added.
“Replacing the existing distribution centre with a data centre will mean less intensive industrial use of the site overall,” according to the developer.
“Once operational, the facility will require fewer heavy vehicle deliveries, meaning fewer trucks on local roads.
“We recently submitted a planning application through the Victorian Government’s Development Facilitation Program.
“The application is now under review by the Department of Transport and Planning”.
A traffic management plan would be put in place to manage vehicle movements, minimise disruption and ensure nearby roads remain accessible during construction, according to the group.
Also today we are reporting Stockland secured a 10,700 square metre lease at the estate, to Dann Event Hire.
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