The massive warehousing for Epping’s new state-of-the-art fruit, vegetable and flower market will be built by a global partnership.
The partnership will also be granted leases to run the warehousing for the next 40 years.
Major Projects Minister David Hodgett said last week contracts had been finalised to build about 72,000 square metres of warehousing at the market site, driving more than 200 construction jobs.
“Hansen Yuncken, a Victoria-based builder-developer, will collaborate with Propertylink Australian Industrial Partnership, the Australian property venture of Goldman Sachs (USA) and the Grosvenor Group (UK),” Mr Hodgett said.
He said that as part of the collaboration, Propertylink would be granted leases for warehousing at the new market for 40 years.
“The delivery of this warehousing, equivalent in length to 1.2 kilometres or five Melbourne city blocks, will transform the operations of the new wholesale market and enable it to grow and develop into one of Australia’s largest fresh produce precincts,” Mr Hodgett said.
Propertylink Australian Industrial Partnership is an investment fund in which the main investors are Goldman Sachs
(75 per cent) and the Grosvenor Group (18.75 per cent).
The Goldman Sachs Asian Special Situations Group is a division of the Goldman Sachs Global Special Situations Group.
The Grosvenor Group is a privately owned property and fund management company with £12.2 billion of assets under management.
Mr Hodgett said most of the signed-up warehouse tenants at Epping were businesses that had never had the opportunity before for on-site warehousing because of the constraints of the current Footscray Road market.
“With warehouse construction, the major trading floor building and fit-out works under way, it’s expected the new Epping market
will open in the first half of 2015,” Mr Hodgett said.
