Blackstone sells Brisbane industrial estate to ESR for $90m
American private equity giant Blackstone has sold its Acacia Ridge Business Park in Brisbane’s south to logistics platform ESR for more than $90 million.
The 18-hectare property at 1502 Beaudesert Road was acquired by ESR for its $1 billion Australia Development Partnership, which will focus on developing its own assets amid strong competition for premium logistics facilities to service the demands of e-commerce.
In July, The Australian Financial Review revealed that ESR had bought a 79- hectare site at 590-620 Western Port Highway in Cranbourne West in Melbourne’s south-east for more than $75 million.
ESR launched the $1 billion fund in June with capital partner GIC committing $400 million as the cornerstone investor.
It will focus on acquiring strategically located sites that benefit from infrastructure or proposed infrastructure upgrades in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.
The fund was seeded with two prime land parcels in Sydney – the ESR Horsley Logistics Park, which was purchased in 2019, and ESR Leppington Industrial Estate in the city’s south-west. The parcels of land will be developed into premium logistics assets with an end value of approximately $410 million.
The Acacia Ridge Business Park lies within an established industrial precinct, about 13 kilometres south of the Brisbane CBD, and was previously known as the Fox Road Industrial Estate.
It was originally developed by Macquarie-Goodman and includes a large distribution centre operated by convenience store chain Spar Australia, as well as other buildings and vacant land.
Premium logistics estate
ESR Australia will develop the site in stages to become a premium logistics estate, with the potential for a total of about 100,000 square metres of facilities once fully developed.
It includes a 2.5-hectare parcel suitable for a 14,000-square-metre facility, with development approval already in place. The balance of the site will be redeveloped over the next few years.
The site is close to the Acacia Ridge Intermodal Terminal and Archerfield Airport.
“We targeted this location due to strong demand for premium logistics assets and the potential for redevelopment in this land-constrained market,” ESR Australia chief executive Phil Pearce said.
“An infill site of this scale with holding income in the Acacia Ridge precinct is rare, so we’re well positioned to capitalise on the demand by creating a high-quality logistics estate in one of Brisbane’s best industrial locations.
“With an immediate development opportunity ready-to-go on the site’s southern boundary, this site allows us to leverage our core capabilities of development, leasing and asset management.”
