Atlassian slams NSW-Mirvac tech park deal

Atlassian says the NSW government’s decision to award the tech park tender to Mirvac and CBA is a disaster.

The Australian Technology Park at Eveleigh, in Sydney’s inner south.

The country’s hottest technology company, Atlassian, which is poised for a $4 billion float on the Nasdaq exchange, has branded the NSW government’s decision to award the Australian Technology Park tender to a developer working in conjunction with Commonwealth Bank a disaster.

“It is a tragic missed opportunity for Australia,” Atlassian co-chief executive co-founder Scott Farquhar told The Australian.

“This was an opportunity to really create an ecosystem, an epicentre of technology in Australia ... but I’m not sure how you create a technology hub with an anchor tenant that’s 105 years old growing at 5 per cent a year.”

Mirvac, backed by capital partners AMP Capital, Sunsuper and Centuria Property Funds, yesterday won the rights to develop a state-owned parcel known as Australian Technology Park at Eveleigh for $263 million.

At the centre will be a $1 billion complex to house 10,000 CBA staff, but there will also be a focus on hi-tech businesses through a Tech Incubation Fund, a memorandum with the University of Sydney to support digital and creative industries, in addition to a locomotive shed targeting tech and creative businesses.

Software company Atlassian had teamed up with losing bidder tycoon Lang Walker. Under its proposal a national hub for emerging technologies and innovation would have been the primary focus.

Mr Farquhar rejects speculation that Atlassian’s bid was about securing office space for its fast-growing business, arguing that its primary intention was to create a tech hub with a critical mass to draw global attention and generate world-class technological output.

“We need to create a technology hub that people will look at from around the world and are attracted to come work in Australia because we have a vibrant technology industry. So that we can attract our best and brightest from around the world,” he said.

“The goal was to create something for Australia, and I don’t know how that will be possible with the anchor tenant being Commonwealth Bank.”

Planning Minister Rob Stokes said the sale of ATP to the Mirvac-led consortium ensured that a ­vision for the park to become a creative and tech precinct could come to fruition.

“Our aspiration for this site is to continue the transformation from dilapidated railway buildings to a growing technology hub,” Mr Stokes said. “Mirvac and its partners have made a commitment to revitalise the existing technology precinct, and the NSW government has secured ongoing environmental, heritage and access commitments.”

Other property executives argued that an anchor tenant of CBA’s size and stature was needed to maintain cohesion and a sense of place at the site. The bank will occupy the 93,000sq m headquarters for an initial term of 15 years.

“We are thrilled to have been selected,” Mirvac chief executive Susan Lloyd-Hurwitz said of the decision, which came at the end of a near six-month campaign. The site was pursued by the Goodman Group, Walker Corporation, Aqualand and Altis Property Partners in earlier stages.

“Our vision for this precinct extends beyond the bricks and mortar; we are wholly committed to unlocking the potential of this site to create a vibrant, sustainable place to work and socialise that provides a long-term legacy,” she said.

Mirvac will develop and build the entire precinct. Mirvac, in conjunction with AMP Capital’s Wholesale Office Fund and Sunsuper, will fund the $1bn bank building in equal thirds, as foreshadowed by The Australian.

Centuria Property Funds will acquire select assets in the park worth just over $100m for a new trust. The new Mirvac Locomotive Trust will acquire the Locomotive Workshop and National Innovation centre.

“In ATP we’ve secured a top-grade office asset, which provides a blue-chip tenant with innovative accommodation,” AMP Capital global head of property Carmel Hourigan said. Knight Frank advised the NSW government on the sale and Colliers International advised Mirvac.