 Kate Bailey |
Commercial real estate specialist CBRE is predicting that multistorey warehousing will hit Australia, starting in South Sydney by 2020 and inner Melbourne by 2023.
CBRE's report,
On the Up and Up: The Rise of Multistorey Warehousing in Australia, says the move will be prompted by current rent growth forecasts, land values and construction costs.
CBRE head of retail and logistics research Kate Bailey says occupiers' willingness to pay more for prime locations is likely to provide a catalyst for development, meaning the rise of multi-level warehousing could be here sooner than currently projected.
"This is an emerging market in the industrial space, with this type of development set to grow in popularity over coming years," she says.
"We forecast an additional 350,000 sqm of distribution space will be required annually in Australia to service growth in e-commerce, with South Sydney and inner Melbourne to be amongst the highest growing areas in the country."
Christine Miller, Pacific director of CBRE's Supply Chain Advisory business, says multistorey warehouses are already common in port locations across Asia, reinforcing that the locations of these developments must be tied to critical infrastructure.