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Tag: Goodman Group

  • Microsoft Secures Approval for $902M Western Sydney Data Centre

    Microsoft Secures Approval for $902M Western Sydney Data Centre

    Microsoft won New South Wales government approval for an A$1.3 billion ($901.9 million) data centre in western Sydney on 1 October. The five-storey facility in Huntingwood will deliver 96 megawatts of IT capacity across 40 data halls.

    State planners signed off on the project three days after Goodman Group abandoned plans for an A$798 million facility on Sydney’s north shore following neighborhood protests. Industrial corridors and suburban fringes continue to drift apart as cloud infrastructure expands across Australia.

    Power Caps and Grid Conditions

    The development consent caps total power consumption at 140 megawatts. Before operations begin, state authorities require Microsoft to match all electricity demand with additional, firmed renewable supply. This power must come through power purchase agreements for generation within New South Wales.

    First-year carbon dioxide equivalent emissions are projected at 1,326 kilotonnes, driven largely by operational electricity draw. Onsite backup systems include 46 diesel generators holding up to 1.5 million litres of fuel, alongside 158,763 kilograms of lithium-ion batteries. Cooling will rely on 36 rooftop evaporative cooling towers drawing approximately 3.9 megalitres of water daily.

    Federal Biodiversity Clearance

    Planning consent gives Microsoft no immediate path to break ground. The company must still secure federal environmental sign-off under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act.

    Clearing the site requires removing 0.33 hectares of a conservation area containing critically endangered woodland and potential wildlife habitats. Construction will take 24 months once federal approvals land. It will generate 250 construction jobs and 74 permanent operational positions.

    Site Selection Shifts West

    Securing the Huntingwood site required extensive negotiations with Blacktown City Council over building bulk, drainage, and landscaping before reaching a formal planning agreement in September 2025. The proposal attracted only a single public objection. Residential properties sit 90 metres away.

    Goodman faced a harsher reception at its proposed Project Mars site in Lane Cove West. Homes stood 20 metres away, with a primary school within 160 metres. That proposal drew 374 public submissions, with only nine in support, before Goodman withdrew it on 28 September.

    The policy environment for large data centres had evolved significantly since planning started, Goodman head of planning Guy Smith told the planning department.

    Hyperscalers and real estate developers in Sydney are concentrating capital in western industrial clusters to avoid urban friction. Huntingwood borders Eastern Creek, where Goodman has filed plans for a 500-megawatt, A$5 billion campus. Nearby in Minchinbury, Starwood, Doma, and Telstra InfraCo are building a 62-megawatt facility.

    National Standards on the Horizon

    Engineering consultancy Lehr Consultants International lodged Microsoft’s initial application in 2023 without naming the end user. The project ties into Microsoft’s October 2023 commitment to invest A$5 billion over two years to expand Australian cloud and computing infrastructure.

    State planners also approved Stockland’s A$630.4 million Road 1 Data Centre in Macquarie Park on the same day, permitting a 34.3-megawatt IT load alongside future residential towers. Developers now face tighter rules. Victoria is proposing mandatory 150-metre buffer zones from homes, while the Australian federal government prepares national data centre legislation for introduction in early 2027.

  • Goodman Faces Community Resistance over 3 Trillion Yen Tsukuba Data Center

    Goodman Faces Community Resistance over 3 Trillion Yen Tsukuba Data Center

    Goodman Group faces local opposition at its 3 trillion yen ($20 billion) data center campus in Tsukuba, Japan. The pushback follows the cancellation of a similar project in Sydney.

    The 45-hectare site in Ibaraki Prefecture will reach an eventual capacity of 1 gigawatt. It ranks among the largest foreign-backed digital infrastructure projects in the country.

    Work began earlier this year on the initial 50-megawatt phase in the Oho district, an area of about 20,000 residents roughly 50 kilometers northeast of Tokyo. The site sits next to a residential neighborhood, a hospital and a nursing home. Heavy construction machinery arrived on location in February. Residents say that gave them their first real indication of the project’s scale.

    Dispute over site purpose and consultation

    Neighborhood representatives say initial planning filings obscured the data facility. Municipal documents in 2023 originally described the project as a logistics warehouse. References to a data center appeared later in the planning process.

    Hiroyuki Yanagimachi, who formed a residents group to challenge the project, gathered roughly 800 signatures demanding a public town hall. His group sent two formal letters to Goodman requesting an open session. Yanagimachi said the group will protest at the Tsukuba site and outside the developer’s Tokyo office if open talks do not happen.

    Goodman said in a statement that its door remains open to meet the neighborhood association head. It plans to hold an information meeting after consulting with local authorities. The developer previously hosted two invitation-only evening dinners in August for several dozen attendees at a local restaurant. Participants said the format felt like promotional hospitality rather than an open public forum.

    Grid demand and foreign capital in Japan

    Foreign property groups are pouring record capital into Japanese digital infrastructure to capture demand for artificial intelligence workloads and cloud capacity. Singapore-based GLP and London-based Colt Data Centre Services are building large campuses across Greater Tokyo and regional hubs. Both frequently buy industrial plots close to existing residential districts.

    Power limits and land scarcity force operators to build closer to population centers where local zoning rules offer few formal hurdles. The friction in Tsukuba exposes an operating vulnerability for international developers. Many rely on standard logistics zoning permits to secure land before converting designs to power-heavy computing hubs.

    The Japan Data Center Council, an industry association that includes Goodman, issued guidance in May calling for genuine consultation. Its guidelines state that operators must treat public engagement as a platform for discussion rather than a one-way notification process.

    Sydney cancellation and project pipeline

    In Australia, the developer recently withdrew plans for a major Sydney data center following sustained resistance from local neighborhood groups. That setback raises the operational stakes for its Japanese pipeline, where land acquisition costs and grid allocations are tied to long-term investment timelines.

    Company officials say Goodman has complied with all legal standards and surpassed baseline regulatory guidelines for the Tsukuba site. The project remains on schedule for its initial phase while the developer coordinates with municipal officials on the format for future public meetings.

  • Goodman Group Raises $455 Million for Hong Kong Data Centre Partnership

    Goodman Group Raises $455 Million for Hong Kong Data Centre Partnership

    Goodman Group has raised $455 million in equity for its Hong Kong data centre partnership, with most of the proceeds earmarked to fit out a 50-megawatt facility in Tsuen Wan.

    Existing and new institutional investors backed the fundraising for the $2.7 billion vehicle, the Sydney-based industrial developer announced on Tuesday. The capital will primarily fund mechanical and electrical works at HKG10, which Goodman will operate.

    Funding the Texaco Road Conversion

    Work will focus on mechanical and electrical fit-outs at HKG10, an industrial conversion project at 128 Texaco Road. The facility will provide 32 megawatts of IT capacity backed by 50 megawatts of secured primary power.

    Initial capacity is scheduled to enter service in early 2028. That is later than earlier company projections targeting mid-2026. Goodman will operate the completed site directly.

    Retaining the existing warehouse avoids demolition emissions while cutting raw concrete and steel use during conversion, according to the developer.

    Institutional Capital and Regional Scale

    The transaction tests global pension appetite for Asia-Pacific digital infrastructure as conventional office and logistics yields face pressure. Goodman holds a 20 per cent cornerstone position in the venture alongside Dutch pension managers PGGM and APG, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, CBRE Investment Management and an unnamed Middle Eastern institutional investor.

    By securing committed capital before commissioning equipment, the partnership limits balance sheet exposure to regional fit-out and engineering costs. The main execution risk now shifts to procurement timing and grid delivery milestones in Hong Kong’s crowded industrial corridors.

    Industrial Shift Toward Power Assets

    That partnership launched in July 2025 with an initial seed portfolio of six properties across 2.3 million square feet and 325 megawatts of planned capacity. Four stabilised facilities at Goodman’s Tsuen Wan West campus accounted for 225 megawatts, with HKG10 and a second conversion making up the rest.

    Data centres now represent 78 per cent of Goodman’s global development work in progress, totaling A$15.4 billion out of A$19.7 billion recorded at the end of June. Operating profit for the financial year rose 15.7 per cent to A$2.7 billion.

    The Next Pipeline Deliveries

    In July, the group started construction on HKG09, a 50-megawatt conversion in Kwai Chung pre-leased to an unnamed Singapore-based data centre operator. Completion is slated for 2029.

    Outside Hong Kong, Goodman secured a 20-year hyperscale lease for the 50-megawatt opening phase of its Tsukuba Tech Central campus in Greater Tokyo, with commercial service starting in early 2028. Power grid sign-offs are next for the developer’s 135-megawatt Project Apollo in Sydney, which carries a development value of A$1.4 billion.

  • Goodman secures five new customers signing at Goodman Pudong Airport Logistics Park

    Goodman secures five new customers signing at Goodman Pudong Airport Logistics Park

    Goodman Group (Goodman or the Group) is pleased to announce that it has secured five new major customer commitments totalling 98,120 sqm at the Goodman Pudong Airport Logistics Park (GPALP). The leasing success achieved reflects the continued robust demand for well located, high quality warehouse and distribution facilities in and around key gateway cities like Shanghai.

    Located next to the Pudong International Airport’s third runway, which is designated for airfreight only, the park is well serviced by strong transportation infrastructure. It comprises two-storey ramped up warehouses with sustainable features such as LED lighting, low-e glass curtain walls and steel structures made out of recycled materials.

    The five customers who have recently committed to GPALP are:

    • China Postal Express & Logistics, China’s leading postal services provider
    • DSV, a Danish transport and logistics service specialist
    • NTS Logistics Management Company, a leading Chinese integrated transportation firm
    • Shi Hao Vehicle Logistics Solutions, a Chinese vehicle logistics company
    • Success Master Consultancy Co. Ltd., an automobile pre-delivery inspection service provider

    Kristoffer Harvey, Chief Executive Officer, Greater China, Goodman said, “The strong demand for space at the Goodman Pudong Airport Logistics Park underscores our commitment to making it the preferred choice for companies wanting to locate in excellent proximity to China’s second busiest airport. We are pleased to welcome so many renowned customers to this facility and to be able to meet their requirements with our modern logistics solutions and high quality customer service.”

    China Postal Express & Logistics, one of the park’s new customers, committed to a total of 19,769 sqm.

    Wang Aiping, General Manager, Shanghai Branch, China Postal Express & Logistics said, “Shanghai Postal Express & Logistics is a modern and integrated state-owned express delivery and logistics company that professionally operates and manages Shanghai’s postal express and logistics services. Our business covers all of China and more than 200 countries overseas. Goodman has a strong reputation in the market due to the high quality of its warehouses, as well as its excellent property management capabilities.

    “We are very honoured to occupy Goodman’s best-in-class facility, which has been built in line with the highest standards. The adequate amount of space provided by the Goodman Pudong Airport Logisitics Park will play a key role in helping Shanghai Postal Express & Logistics improve its management and operational capabilities, boost its efficiency and provide integrated customer services. Meanwhile, Shanghai Postal Express & Logistics will also offer convenient, rapid, safe and reliable express delivery and logistics services to all segments of society.”