One of Australia’s biggest property developers is moving forward with its plan to build data centres, with a pipeline of seven sites that it stresses are far from residential neighbourhoods.
Stockland already has one data centre operating in the Sydney high-tech industrial suburb of Macquarie Park and in March formed a joint venture with global data centre provider EdgeConneX.
Departing chairman Tom Pockett told the Stockland’s annual general meeting on Monday that the strategy was in an “embryonic form” but had been very well thought out.
The company is currently working on planning approvals and securing power for the sites before making major investments in the partnership, chief executive Tarun Gupta told the meeting.
Stockland has already secured 450 megawatts of power for three sites: an expansion of its Macquarie Park data centre and at two current logistics warehouses in Melbourne’s industrial suburbs of Cherry Lane and Brooklyn.
The four other data centre sites in Stockland’s pipeline are less developed.
One is also in Macquarie Park, two are in the western Sydney suburbs of Wetherill Park and Kemps Creek and one is proposed for Melbourne Business Park.
“They’re all located in logistics sites, so that helps the fact that there’s no communities around them,” Mr Pockett said.
The sites are already zoned for data centre uses and Stockland is now working through community and statutory consultation, Mr Gupta said.
“The sites we picked are the ones where we think the right balance of providing what is a critical infrastructure for the country, but also balancing community requirements,” he said.
The noise from the heavy-duty cooling equipment used to prevent data centre server racks from overheating has prompted a backlash in some areas.
Another data centre developer, ASX-listed NextDC, warned on Monday that its flagship M3 Melbourne data centre faced a delay in securing power and it was still working on assessing the implications.
Electrical distributor Jemena in September paused a rollout of the mammoth five-storey concrete poles needed to power the site, amid protests from residents in the Melbourne suburb of Yarraville.
Firmus Technologies, which withdrew plans for an ASX listing earlier this month, is also facing community opposition in Tasmania over its plans for data centres there.
Mr Gupta said that Stockland had a 70-year track record of engaging with communities, such as when it creates new big master-planned communities.
“That same approach is what we bring into our data centre consultation,” he said.
EdgeConneX operates 80 data centres in 20 different countries, and has a pipeline of close to nine gigawatts in development.
Backed by Swedish investment management giant EQT Infrastructure, EdgeConneX recently appointed former Telstra and Brookfield executive Chris Maher as its Australian chief executive.
Stockland shares finished Monday down 4.4 per cent to $4.04.
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