Three $100m+ data centres on the cards for NSW, Victoria

The tier 3+ data centre facilities, worth over $100 million each, could create up to 600 jobs in each location.

Melbourne, Sydney and Wollongong could play host to new world-class data centres as part of investment plans by a joint venture group that includes the company behind the Polaris facility in Queensland.

The move to build the tier 3+ facilities, which could potentially cost over $100 million per data centre, could create up to 600 jobs in each location.

“We are actively working on a number of other data centre projects through Strategic Directions and the Springfield Land Corporation, and with venture partner Leightons we are looking at new Polaris facilities in Sydney, Melbourne and potentially Wollongong,” Strategic Directions Group director, Mike Andrea, said.

“The one in Sydney is under review at the moment; we are getting some cost plans together and we have nominated a preferred site in Melbourne and are going through the requirements for what land size and capacity we need around essential services.”

In February, Strategic Directions and Springfield Land Corporation opened its $220 million Polaris 1 Data Centre in Springfield, Queensland. That data centre is one of the largest in Australia with 14,000m² and a dedicated dark fibre network housing customers across the financial services, government and corporate sectors.

The company was also this week selected to be one of five data centre providers to service Federal Government agencies while they develop whole-of-government strategies as part of the Gershon Review.

Polaris was joined by Canberra Data Centres, Fujitsu, Global Switch Property and Harbour MSP after submitting to the Department of Finance and Regulation’s Express of Interest Tender opened in May.

However, the plans for the new facilities are dependent on the joint venture getting pre-commitments from clients.

“Unless people pre-commit these data centres don’t get built,” Andrea said. “And if you want the high-end, high-scalability, your high-secured facility the size of a Polaris, without those pre-commitments no one can afford to go to the bank to fund them. Financial markets will just not allow it to happen.”

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