Published on the 17/11/2015 | Written by Beverley Head
Sydney’s tech landscape will be in flux over the next five years with the planned redevelopment of two significant inner city technology hubs…
The Commonwealth Bank last week announced it had signed a deal to become the anchor tenant at the Australian Technology Park and planned to move 10,000 employees into the Park.
Based in and around the old railway yards at Redfern on the city’s fringe, the ATP has long provided a relatively inexpensive home to a range of startups and incubators along with more established technology companies, forming a focus for the Sydney technology community.
However with a successful bid from a property development consortium led by the Mirvac Group, the area will be overhauled – but not complete until 2020. And with CBA as anchor tenant it is unclear what will be left – and affordable – for startups.
Software company Atlassian, which is planning a US IPO on the Nasdaq, had also thrown its hat into the ring to develop the Park and be an anchor tenant, but missed out to Mirvac and the bank.
The issue for many of the current residents of the Park is where do they go while development is underway, and will they be able to afford to return in 2020?
Commonwealth Bank last week announced that as well as moving into the Park it would partner with Mirvac and Centuria to establish a tech incubation fund to encourage startups to locate in the area. It’s a potentially attractive carrot – but one that can’t be munched for another five years, which is a very long time in startup land.
With property at a premium in Sydney, the challenge that many companies and incubators will face is finding central locations for the next five years at least.
The NSW Government is currently seeking proposals for developers to lease and redevelop the White Bay Power Station site which is wants to see reincarnated as a technology/education/residential hub. While the notion has been generally applauded, the pace of development will be too slow for many startups.
Even the Request for Proposals phase won’t be completed before February next year, and the entire programme of work to redevelop the area is envisaged as a 20-30 year initiative.
