Urbis Think Tank
Industrial Land hot topics – quality developments and overzoning
Two insights relating to Industrial land have emerged from Urbis projects this month.
New Design Standards For Industrial Estates
The first relates to a new breed of Industrial estate, such as those recently developed by Dexus (see photo), and being developed by LandCorp in Perth and Places Victoria (formerly VicUrban) in Melbourne
Urbis has worked with these organisations to develop robust design standards that will ensure the highest standard of urban design, architecture and landscape architecture rather than the typical dreary industrial precinct. Some of these projects push the traditional boundaries of industrial estate design to explore innovative and ecologically sensitive design directions and explore opportunities to improve the urban design quality of these otherwise inactive industrial precincts.
An example from Places Victoria is Logis, a 350 hectare “Eco-Industrial” park being developed by Places Victoria on a former water treatment plant in Dandenong. Urbis developed Urban Design Guidelines for the overall estate and provided Urban Planning advice to assist with their implementation, followed by the development of specific guidelines for the gateway corridors and colour guidelines.
For further information on Industrial land planning, email Regional Director Ray Haeren
Questionable Industrial zoning proposals in Melbourne’s growth corridors
The second insight relates to the appropriate zoning of industrial land, particularly in Melbourne. With the recent release of the Growth Corridor Plans, it is valid to evaluate the appropriateness of the amount and location of industrial zoned land in the north and west.
Over the past 2 years, Urbis has conducted a number of studies in regard to the amount of Industrial land that can be tenanted in these areas. Manufacturing jobs in Victoria have declined and government forecasts expect this trend to continue. As a result, there are now significant vacancies in some industrial precincts, and sufficient industrial land supply in areas such as Melton to cater for 69 years of demand.
Despite this, substantial additional Industrial land is being proposed in Melton, Mickleham, Wollert and Sunbury, which will further exacerbate the oversupply. Urbis has identified alternative land uses that would benefit these communities.
We do not believe that it is in the interests of the local council to be forced to follow the lead of the Forbes (NSW) council in 2010. After not achieving a land sale for over 2 years in one of the council’s industrial subdivisions, they were forced to dispose of 13 of 15 allotments at a heavily discounted cost (~$500 each).
For further information on Industrial land economics, email Associate Director Princess Ventura