news The Commonwealth Bank has beaten off its main rival to acquire and redevelop the Australian Technology Park (ATP), following a successful bid by a Mirvac Group-led consortium.
The news will come as a blow to the other contender in the bidding, enterprise software group Atlassian, which had planned to locate its Australian headquarters on the site if its partner Walker Corporation was successful.
The group had been campaigning for the ATP to become a technology hub, proposing innovative architecture and green credentials for the Sydney development.
Now, in a similar scheme planned for completion in 2020, CommBank says it will lease 93,000 square metres of office space across two state-of-the-art buildings over 15 years.
According to CommBank, the ATP project will be designed to achieve 5 Star NABERS Energy and 6 Star Green Star (V3) As Built ratings, to both maximise energy and water efficiency and create a healthier working environment.
The redeveloped ATP precinct will feature “world-class amenities”, including sporting facilities, open spaces, specialty retail, child care and a gymnasium plus quality cafés, bars and restaurants that will create a “bustling village hub for our people and the local community”.
Commonwealth Bank said it plans to partner with Mirvac and Centuria in establishing a tech incubation fund to “further enable and encourage” the use of the Australian Technology Park precinct as a technology and innovation hub.
“Securing this innovative office campus reflects our continued commitment to investing in leading workplaces for our people and ensuring we have world-class solutions to support future workplace needs,” said David Craig, the bank’s Chief Financial Officer.
“This is a major milestone for the Commonwealth Bank,” he continued. “Not only will our new campus feature the very latest in innovative workplace design and technology, it will also house 10,000 of our people – the largest number of employees we’ve ever been able to accommodate in a single site.
Craig further described the move as a “significant opportunity” to partner and collaborate with universities, start-ups and other innovative companies. The proximity of the Australian Technology Park to the bank’s existing Sydney CBD offices will allow for better integration of these locations, he added.
With the Australian Technology Park (ATP) site now won, CommBank said it will not renew leases at existing offices in Parramatta, Sydney Olympic Park or Lidcombe.
Instead, it plans to exit these locations, as the leases will soon expire, and consolidate its Sydney workforce at the new CBD fringe campus (Australian Technology Park) and Sydney CBD precinct (Darling Park, Commonwealth Bank Place and Darling Square) by 2020.
Image credit: Aundray, Creative Commons
How will technology companies ever operate in Australia again now that a specific piece of land has been sold to a bank? How?!?! End of days people. End of days.
щ（ﾟДﾟщ）
:D
Comments are closed.