Goodman Group and Australia Post have kicked off construction of what will be the largest parcel facility and delivery centre in the southern hemisphere.
Covering almost 10 football fields at Goodman’s Redbank Motorway Estate in the City of Ipswich, Queensland, Australia Post has committed to a 15-year lease on the 13.5 hectare site. Australia Post will invest more than $200 million in the new hub and joins other major logistics customers TNT – Fedex, DB Schenker and Northline, who have all committed to the estate.
Bob Black, Group Chief Operating Officer for Australia Post said, “Australians spent $21.3 billion online in 2017, driving parcel volumes up, and this love affair with online shopping isn’t slowing down. Our $200 million investment – which includes automated processing technology and improved parcel scanning and tracking – is demonstration of our commitment to Queensland jobs and to remaining Australia’s preferred and most trusted delivery provider, and will ensure we’re well-equipped to manage future volume growth.
“If you’re sending a parcel to or from Queensland, this new Redbank facility will benefit you. We chose Redbank because it’s strategically located between Brisbane and Ipswich and sits at the edge of three major motorway interchanges, providing multiple access points to arterial routes. The site will be operational prior to peak period 2019, and will be capable of processing up to 700,000 parcels per day, and will be our key delivery hub and parcel processing centre in Queensland.”
According to Australia Post’s latest Inside Australian Online Shopping Report, Queenslanders are avid online shoppers with the suburbs in and around Ipswich having one of the highest category growth rates in online shopping for homewares and appliances, with year-on-year growth exceeding 38%.
More than 500 people will be based at the new facility in Ipswich which is fast becoming a leading location for online retailing and parcel distribution in Queensland. Once Redbank is fully developed, Goodman’s investment in this key Brisbane location will exceed $1 billion. To date Goodman has committed over $400 million to the estate.
General Manager for Goodman Australia, Jason Little said: “Advancements in technology, supply chain improvements and increasing online sales, are driving demand for industrial property all around the world. Our customers want to be in close proximity to their customers and Redbank Motorway Estate’s location, combined with advanced sortation technologies, allows thousands of products to be ordered online, picked, packed and delivered to Brisbane and the Gold Coast in half a day.
“As our customers focus on improving their delivery, online and supply chain operations, Goodman has been investing in the best located properties to assist. We’ve extended our existing landbank at Redbank by another 87 hectares to ensure future supply for this growing demand.”
The project will be developed quickly over five stages to allow Australia Post the flexibility to start operations as soon as possible. The first stage of construction (approximately 24,000 sqm) will be completed by the end of 2018 to enable the sortation installation to commence in January 2019. Overall completion is targeted for October 2019 – in time for the peak Christmas period.
Michael Callow from Cushman and Wakefield negotiated the lease and development deal with Australia Post.
Key construction and sustainability features:
- 48,677 sqm purpose built warehouse with a further 20,000 sqm in covered awnings + 1,600 sqm of office space
- Staff health and wellbeing features including air conditioning within the 34,000 sqm
sortation space - Sustainability features including LED lighting, 80,000 litres of rainwater storage capacity
for water recycling and solar generation.
Source: Goodman Group