Power-secured Sydney land now clears A$1,500/sqm, a 2-4x premium to fringe Melbourne sites
Power-secured Sydney land now clears A$1,500 per square metre, a two-to-fourfold premium to fringe Melbourne sites, against build costs of roughly A$6m to A$15m per megawatt. The comparable sales and the yield-on-cost arithmetic.
PwC comparable sales, part 1 of 2: May 2025 to Dec 2025
| Buyer | Site | Date | Size | Price (A$) | A$/sqm |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AirTrunk | 706-752 Mamre Rd, Kemps Creek (SYD) | Nov 2025 | 52.26 ha | $780m | $1,500 |
| Stack | 1005 Boundary Rd, Tarneit (MEL) | Dec 2025 | ~12 ha | ~$144m | $1,200 |
| Offshore syndicate | 185 Brookville Dr, Craigieburn (MEL) | Nov 2025 | 21 ha | $70m | $454 * |
| NEXTDC | 148-158 O'Briens Rd, Corio (Geelong) | Sep 2025 | 4 ha | $16m | $399 |
| AirTrunk | 20-42 Simcock Ave, Spotswood (MEL) | Jul 2025 | 1.5 ha | $20m | $1,500 * |
| AirTrunk | 45 Donnybrook Rd, Mickleham (MEL) | May 2025 | 67 ha | $350m | $522 |
The premium, sale by sale: Kemps Creek A$/sqm as a multiple of each other sale (inashanu calc)
Reading the table
Reading the table. Source: PwC Australia, Data centre valuation (10 Mar 2026). As at 21 Sep 2026.
- Sydney
- 1 sale at A$1,500/sqm
- Melbourne
- 4 sales at A$454 to A$1,500/sqm
- Geelong
- 1 sale at A$399/sqm
* Two PwC rates (Craigieburn syndicate, Spotswood) are recomputed by inashanu and flagged; see the reconciliation note on the following page.
PwC comparable land sales, A$/sqm: Sydney power-secured sites command a 2-4x premium to fringe Melbourne
PwC comparable sales, part 2 of 2: Dec 2024 to Mar 2025
| Buyer | Site | Date | Size | Price (A$) | A$/sqm |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pacific Partnerships | 114-146 Leakes Rd, Truganina (MEL) | Mar 2025 | 13.25 ha | $137.5m | $1,038 |
| Stack | 78 Lockwood Rd, Erskine Park (SYD) | Dec 2024 | 7.72 ha | $142m | $1,838 |
| NEXTDC | S7, Eastern Creek (SYD) | Dec 2024 | 25.8 ha | $353m | $1,368 |
| Amazon | 80 Kinloch Crt, Craigieburn (MEL) | Dec 2024 | 14.2 ha | $79.5m | $560 |
inashanu reconciliation note
PwC Australia comparable sales (10 Mar 2026). * inashanu recompute from stated price and area gives ~$1,333/sqm (Spotswood) and ~$333/sqm (Craigieburn syndicate) vs PwC's published $1,500 and $454, probable gross-vs-developable area basis; flagged here and left unresolved. Earlier benchmark: NEXTDC Horsley Park 12.4 ha for $124m (Jul 2021, ~$1,000/sqm).
Where land cost is heading
Site acquisition costs are up 35-45% from 2022 levels (IMARC), and Sydney DC-dedicated land values are set to grow ~50% with ~100 ha of sales finalising (CommercialRealEstate.com.au, Jun 2026).
All ten PwC comparable land sales, A$ per sqm: Sydney highlighted
| Item | Value ($) |
|---|---|
| Stack, Erskine Park SYD Dec-24 | 1838 |
| AirTrunk, Kemps Creek SYD Nov-25 | 1500 |
| AirTrunk, Spotswood MEL Jul-25 * | 1500 |
| NEXTDC S7, Eastern Creek SYD Dec-24 | 1368 |
| Stack, Tarneit MEL Dec-25 | 1200 |
| Pacific P'ships, Truganina MEL Mar-25 | 1038 |
| Amazon, Craigieburn MEL Dec-24 | 560 |
| AirTrunk, Mickleham MEL May-25 | 522 |
| Craigieburn syndicate MEL Nov-25 * | 454 |
| NEXTDC, Corio Geelong Sep-25 | 399 |
Development economics: 8.2% yields on cost against ~A$6-15m/MW build costs leave fat margins, if power is secured
The return side
Goodman forecasts an 8.2% yield on cost across its A$19.7bn work-in-progress (78% data centres, FY26), implying stabilised values well above cost for powered-shell and fitted product. Savills benchmarks tier-1 APAC investment-grade yields at ~5% (4-7% range) and emerging-market development yields at 9.5-10.5%: Australian DC development sits between, with Sydney power scarcity pushing effective returns toward the top.
The spread that matters
An 8.2% yield on cost against a 4-6.2% stabilised trading band (Section 08) creates 200-400bp of development margin: the economic engine behind Goodman, Stockland and ISPT's pivots into the sector.
Capex intensity, A$m per MW (inashanu estimates)
| Item | Value (A$) |
|---|---|
| AirTrunk MEL2, fitted hyperscale | 14.1 |
| NEXTDC S7, 550-612 MW basis | 12 |
| CDC Marsden Park, incl. 720 MW substation | 6.2 |
| Macquarie IC3 Super West, brownfield | 5.6 |
Derived from disclosed project figures: A$350m/63 MW; A$3.1bn/504 MW; A$7bn/581 MW avg; A$5bn/354 MW; working range A$6-15m/MW; fit-out, land and power infrastructure drive a ~2.5x spread. CDC Laverton is excluded: its A$2.7bn is CDC's estimate of economic injection during construction of the 150 MW first campus, on a different measurement basis from the capex figures above.
Capex/MW rows are inashanu derivations from disclosed project capex and capacity; Firmus Melbourne (~A$30m/MW incl. GPUs) excluded as not comparable to shell/fitted product. Global rule of thumb US$7-12m/MW.
Development economics benchmarks
Sources
- PwC Australia, Data centre valuation (10 Mar 2026). Multiples, totals and the weighted average are inashanu calculations from the tabled figures
- PwC Australia, Data centre valuation, as at 10 Mar 2026
- The Urban Developer, as at 29 Jul 2021
- IMARC, as at 2026
- CommercialRealEstate.com.au, as at 3 Jun 2026
- Goodman FY26 results, as at 20 Aug 2026
- Savills APAC DC Spotlight, as at Q1 2025
- company disclosures as tabled
- derivation method shown on chart
Related
- What yields and cap rates do Australian data centres trade at?
- What is in Australia's data centre development pipeline?
- Which Australian cities have the most data centre capacity?
- How much electricity do Australian data centres use?
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