18,000 CBA, CSIRO workers join Tech Central boom

Tech Central is looming as Australia’s largest start-up hub, but its true origins date back more than 150 years.

Cicada Innovations CEO Sally-Ann Williams at South Eveleigh which once put engines into trains and now is the home of Sydney's booming technology industry. Picture: Jane Dempster

Tech Central is looming as an upcoming mega hub for the nation’s fastest growing tech start-ups, with the likes of Atlassian, Q-Ctrl and Stone and Chalk set to call the upcoming Sydney precinct home.

But it’s an old train workshop – nearly 150 years old – that is the secret driving force behind what’s set to be a once-in-a-generation change for the city. That workshop is at South Eveleigh, the home of Cicada Innovations, a thriving business which helped launch some of the nation’s great technological advancements in recent years.

Sally-Ann Williams, chief executive of Cicada Innovations and former Google executive, says South Eveleigh – a key plank of Tech Central – is already helping build the next industrial revolution.

“We were the home of the last industrial revolution and now we’re home to the national space industry hub. While we might not be putting engines into trains anymore, we are putting rockets into orbit.” she said. “It’s kind of a nice metaphor.”

Ms Williams is talking about the heritage-listed South Eveleigh Railway Workshops on Locomotive St, Redfern. The site has seen major of development over the past several years and has been an anchor point for some of Australia’s leading tech entrepreneurs including Atlassian’s Mike Cannon-Brookes.

“You have to see it to believe it … it’s really quite eye-opening to see a working blacksmith on one side and a spaceship on the other but that’s only the beginning of the potential of what we can do here,” she said.

The Locomotive Workshops at South Eveleigh, formerly known as Australian Technology Park.

The once industrial site is having a moment with tech start-ups, drawing interest from younger, tech-savvy businesses. And now, South Eveleigh is welcoming more tenants by the day.

In the past couple of weeks the National Space Industry Hub moved in. Before that it was Quantum, OMG Media and Work Club, leasing 12,300sq m, 4100sq m and 3200sq m, respectively.

Work Club is doubling down on catering to a younger laptop-wielding crowd, offering flexible desks in its new boutique co-working spaces which includes a library and private suites for customers in need of an office.

Cicada has been at the forefront of this wave of growth, establishing its own Technology and Innovation Fund with their landlord Mirvac. Mirvac’s integrated investment portfolio head Campbell Hanan said his company was keen to introduce a campus-style environment for new tenants.

“As the west-end anchor of the NSW Government’s Tech Central, South Eveleigh is set to become a technology ecosystem which connects Redfern, Eveleigh and extends to Waterloo Metro,” he said.

“We’ve seen significant interest in the unique campus-style working environment that we are delivering at the site, in particular the distinct offering of the Locomotive Workshops bringing together unique heritage buildings with a contemporary workplace offering.”

Mirvac is already working on plans to further development Tech Central with a particular focus on the upcoming metro station developments.

“The original Eveleigh Railway Workshops were the home of the country’s national rail network, and were right at the heart of Sydney’s thriving economy in the late 19th Century, so it’s incredibly fitting that the site will once again be home to a vibrant workforce of Australia’s leading companies and technological minds,” Mr Hanan said.

In October this year the hub will become home to its own major event, The Spark Festival. “Success in deep tech is hard and requires the support of a village. It’s fantastic to see that village growing around us to make this precinct thrive and deliver the promise of tomorrow’s solutions to the world,” Ms Williams said.

Restaurateur and chef Kylie Kwong will open her next venue at South Eveleigh, formerly known as Australian Technology Park.

South Eveleigh is also drawing interest from other retail and hospitality vendors, including celebrity chef Kylie Kwong who opened her Lucky Kwong restaurant in the Locomotive Workshops in May last year. Mr Hanan said Mirvac was seeking more opportunities to introduce different retail offerings.

‘‘The strong leasing interest at the site is evidence of our strategy to focus on building a technology ecosystem at the precinct and our vision to deliver a state-of-the-art work and lifestyle destination curated to meet the needs of today’s modern, flexible workforce,” he said.

“It has an already vibrant retail and dining offering, and is hyper-connected, with access to significant transport nodes including Redfern station and the new metro at Waterloo, bringing additional connectivity and amenity to the area.”

Of all the new developments at South Eveleigh, it’s the launch of the National Space Industry Hub that is most exciting for Ms Williams.

“Bringing the space sector together, not just the defence side of it but actually the commercial and consumer side of space is a tremendous opportunity,” she said.