ESR Australia (ESR) has secured the first two anchor tenants at its newly acquired site, Acacia Ridge Business Park, with Food Packaging Australia (FPA) and SPAR Australia (SPAR), signing long-term leases of seven years and 10 years, respectively, and taking up a total of 19,000sqm of warehouse.
The leases reflect a larger trend that has been seen across Brisbane during the first half of 2021, of an increasing demand for new facilities, with supply chain operators looking to update older facilities to quality warehouses and consolidate their operations.
ESR Australia CEO Phil Pearce noted that leasing enquiries at Acacia Ridge have been very strong, with several tenants inspecting the building since ESR acquired it in December 2020.
“We are delighted to be welcoming FPA Australia and SPAR Australia as long-term tenants at our Acacia Ridge Business Park and support their expanding footprint in Queensland.
“We are seeing strong interest in the estate, which we see as a strong vindication of the strategic location of this infill property,” Mr Pearce said.
Family-owned, FPA who has been operating out of Perth since 1989 with warehouses across the country, was looking to expand its current 3600sqm tenancy. FPA will be updating to a space of approximately 5,700 sqm of warehouse space, situated at the front of the 18-ha infill site.
Part of SPAR International Group, SPAR Australia’s Managing Director, Lou Jardin, said that the new purpose-built, state-of-the-art distribution centre will facilitate both fresh, chilled, and frozen foods, allowing for future growth of the SPAR business in Australia.
“The new facility at ESR’s Acacia Ridge Business Park will allow SPAR to consolidate our business and operate out of one facility, providing the ability to coordinate the supply of goods to our 200 independent Australian retailers.
“SPAR has worked hard over many years to build the platform for the growth we are currently experiencing. This gives us enormous confidence for the future and I’m very appreciative that ESR has shown confidence in SPAR to be the cornerstone of this new development,” Mr Jardin said.
David Knox and Lachlan Hateley from Knight Frank brokered the lease with FPA, while Chris Cash of CBRE negotiated the deal with SPAR.
“The surge in tenant activity levels was illustrated by the fact that ESR received two signed Heads of Agreement on this vacancy in the same week, providing ESR the opportunity to choose the best transaction to proceed with,” said Mr Hateley from Knight Frank.
Acacia Ridge Business Park is located within Brisbane’s prime established industrial precincts. Ideally situated on an arterial road that provides easy access to Brisbane’s major transport links, the site is close to Acacia Ridge Intermodal Terminal and Archerfield Airport, and 13 km from Brisbane CBD.