We heard from a panel of experts on the chronic shortage of serviced industrial land in Sydney, and the urgent need for government to recognise the impact this has on supply chains, cost of living pressures and the interdependent relationship between enough industrial and employment land and housing and infrastructure delivery.
Keynote speaker Esther Cheong, Director, Atlas Economics set the scene with a compelling research report, highlighting the immediate economic risks that less than a year of industrial land supply has on the state, with a vacancy rate of 0.2 per cent and rents grossly exceeding those of other states.
Gordon Kirkby Director Ethos Urban then moderated a discussion with David Hall, National Director, Head of Industrial and Logistics – Brokerage, ANZ at Cushman & Wakefield, Alana Garrick, Development Manager Hale Capital Partners, Athlene (Piech) Kyle, Senior Development Manager, LOGOS Australia Group Pty Ltd.
With housing dominating the political agenda, this panel reminded the room that industrial land is critical to our ability to solve the housing crisis, with its impact on servicing our communities and ensuring NSW has the resources to construct 75,000 homes each year over the next five years.
The panel noted the need for significantly improved planning policy and approvals processes to create change, with proposals including the introduction of a land supply policy, improved servicing of existing land, thoughtful co-location of residential and industrial land and embracing vertical warehousing.
We’d like to thank our event sponsor Cushman & Wakefield for supporting this important discussion.
