Two Brisbane families have listed a significant industrial landholding near Brisbane Airport amid growing demand for commercial space in the area. The 3.14-hectare site at 511 Nudgee Road, Hendra, is managed by McVay Real Estate, Cushman & Wakefield, and Modus Property Group. It represents the last major freehold industrial parcel before the airport’s leasehold holdings and is expected to attract interest from both local and international investors, with the potential sale value estimated to exceed $50 million.
The families acquired the property from Brambles in the early 1990s and are now leveraging the scarcity of available industrial land close to Brisbane’s central business district. The site is located approximately 8 kilometers from the CBD within the Australia TradeCoast precinct, where developable industrial land is reportedly near exhaustion. The property, spread across four freehold titles, encompasses 31,412 square meters with approximately 8,907 square meters of existing warehouse, showroom, and office space. It is being offered as a single consolidated sale or as individual titles.
Brisbane’s industrial market has shown resilience compared to other major Australian cities such as Sydney and Melbourne, which have experienced slower leasing activity. Over the past quarter, gross take-up of industrial space in Brisbane reached nearly 225,000 square meters, bringing the total annual volume to around 870,000 square meters. This strong demand has contributed to a decrease in vacancy rates to 3.1 percent, with Brisbane accounting for about 34 percent of Australia’s net space absorption in the last 12 months. Increasing rents further enhance the attractiveness of strategic sites such as this one.
Industry experts highlight the site’s strategic location at the nexus of key transport routes, including adjacency to the Southern Cross Way interchange and Airport Drive. Modus Property Group director Jack Pershouse noted the location benefits from exposure to more than 118,000 vehicles daily, underscoring its logistical appeal. Cushman & Wakefield’s director Tony Julien emphasized “structural scarcity” in the market, suggesting the property will draw considerable interest from offshore and domestic investors. McVay Real Estate managing director Sam McVay added that large-scale freehold sites close to both the airport and CBD are particularly rare in Brisbane’s inner north.
Research from the Property Council indicates Brisbane has approximately 5.28 years’ worth of vacant industrial land at current absorption rates, but this figure drops to just 3.57 years within the Australia TradeCoast area, reflecting increasing supply constraints in this key industrial zone.
In a broader industry context, there are ongoing developments in related sectors, including large-scale data center projects. One operator anticipates multiple data centers becoming operational in Tasmania next year, with expansion planned in Indonesia and Malaysia through 2027 and 2028. These projects are part of a multi-billion-dollar infrastructure push, with capital expenditures projected to reach tens of billions of U.S. dollars in server and construction costs over the coming years.