Penrith readies for $100m manufacturing hub

A Sydney-based property group has moved a step closer to its planned $100 million development after lodging an application to create a dedicated area for micro and medium-sized manufacturers in the city’s west.

The 12-hectare industrial site, formerly owned by Crane Enfield Metals and still partly leased by Capral Aluminium, was bought by Aon Ari Property for $30 million in December 2020.

Aon’s application with Penrith City Council notes it will reposition and develop its property to accommodate a host of micro and medium-sized manufacturers, under a new banner – “manufactor”.

Aon Ari Property has submitted a development application to Penrith City Council for a $100 million redevelopment of a 12-hectare industrial site.

Principal of Aon Ari, John Joannou, said the group want to create a manufacturing and industrial hub, where products are made locally with opportunities to sell them on site.

“This ‘manufactor’ site has a 180-metre frontage to Castlereagh Street, and we will lease manufacturing spaces ranging from 500 square metres to 10,000 sq m, breathing life back into Penrith’s industrial sector and creating hundreds of jobs,” he said.

It will be one of the many new projects ear-marked in Sydney’s west which is the home for the second airport at Badgerys Creek and the new Aerotropolis that will deliver jobs and new developments to the area.

One of the main sites is the $1 billion industrial and logistics precinct, at Kemps Creek in western Sydney.

The new precinct, on the corner of Mamre Road and the future Southern Link Road in the Western Sydney Aerotropolis, will be crucial to fulfilling the NSW government’s objectives for growth in the region and the creation of the 30-minute city.

The YARDS will also be one of Sydney’s largest industrial developments spanning 70 hectares, helping to fulfil increased pressure on e-commerce and logistics supply chains driven by the pandemic.

It will accommodate about 400,000 sq m of warehouse and logistics facilities and also deliver social infrastructure to the area including retail amenity, public sporting fields along with food and beverage offerings.

JLL senior director, capital markets, Roger Miller, who in conjunction with CBRE, sold the Penrith asset said Western Sydney remains a highly attractive proposition for companies that appreciate current and planned infrastructure investment in the area.

“It is expected the re-development of the site will generate hundreds of jobs for the people of Western Sydney, with micro to large-sized manufacturers already expressing interest in becoming tenants,” he said.

The site is already zoned for manufacturing, including industrial outlets and Aon Ari’s masterplan identifies features of the existing buildings to be restored.

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