- Honda to move to new 22,800sqm facility
- The two old Honda facilities acquired by Hines Asia Property Partners
- Industrial vacancy rates are at record lows
Honda has announced that it will join the Melbourne Airport Business Park with a 22,800 square metre facility.
Comprising 500 square metres of office space and sitting on a 40,910 square metre site, the new facility will become part of Honda’s national parts distribution centre, replacing two nearby facilities.
Groundbreaking for the new distribution centre was in June, with Honda expecting to move into the facility during the third quarter of 2023.
“Honda is a global brand known for its automotive, motorcycle and power equipment products, and we are pleased that we are able to offer them our unique location to support their local business objectives,” said Melbourne Airport’s chief of commercial property and retail, Andrew Gardiner.
“While our main business at the airport is of course aviation, our commercial property business also underpins our success, and that was particularly apparent throughout the pandemic.
“The Melbourne Airport Business Park is Australia’s largest business park, spanning in excess of 500 hectares. We offer tenants like Honda fast access to air freight, on-site 24/7 security and close connections to arterial roads so that they can get their products to their customers quickly and easily.”
Honda Australia’s Chief Operating Officer Stephen Collins said the company was excited to be moving ahead with the next phase of its business transformation plan.
“We are now making significant investments across the broader Honda business to strengthen our local operations,” he said.
“We will be bringing all our automotive, motorcycle and power equipment parts warehousing and distribution together at the new, purpose-built facility. As ‘One Honda’ in Australia, we will have greater scale to realise our full potential and best serve our diverse range of customers.”
Hines acquires Honda properties
Hines Asia Property Partners recently announced its expansion into the Australian industrial and logistics sector, with its second acquisition comprising two logistics properties from Honda Australia. Hines said these are the first logistics acquisitions in Melbourne.
The properties are located at 85-95 Sharps Road, Tullamarine, and 1954-1956 Sydney Road, Campbellfield.
The former will be the first major ground-up logistics development for Hines in Australia after Honda vacates the property in early 2024.
Sitting adjacent to Melbourne Airport, the new development will occupy a high-profile corner site with exposure to Sharps Road and Keilor Park Drive which are major arterial networks from the M80 to the airport.
Hines anticipates this location will appeal to a broad cross-section of occupiers and so intends to develop a next-generation logistics hub on the Tullamarine site.
The Campbellfield site is a freestanding office/warehouse building opposite from the former Ford Factory. Hines said it is being redeveloped into a mixed-use business park aiming to provide significant amenity to the precinct, including quick service retail outlets, a childcare centre, hotel and conference centre.
“Throughout the Asia Pacific region, we are seeing sustained demand for Hines’ next-generation facilities and we intend to strategically invest and deliver this type of product,” commented Chiang Ling Ng, CIO of Asia Pacific at Hines.
“These new Australia acquisitions are adding further scale to Hines’ growing industrial and logistics platform in the region and help expand our investors’ exposure to the dynamic logistics sector across Asia Pacific.”
“Industrial vacancy rates are at record lows and we are seeing double-digit rental growth coming through across most major markets in Australia, which is continuing to drive land values higher, despite inflation.” said Hines head of industrial and logistics, Australia, Alysia Reilly.
“These latest acquisitions give us strong geographic diversification across our core East Coast markets and a good balance of secure income and value-add opportunities in the portfolio.”
