Sydney’s future will have malls as central hubs and a thriving tech industry

Amid the changing work, shopping and economic environment triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic, investors, landlords and developers are confident that by the end of the decade, Sydney will be a place where shopping centres are the new high streets, fostering community and social interaction.

A CBRE report has revealed that augmented reality will be central to the consumer retail experience, alongside unique in-store experiences, while warehouses will be hyperconnected, harnessing robotics to ensure speed and agility.

This vision was borne out by Peter Allan, outgoing chief executive of Scentre group, the country’s largest retail landlord at the results in August, who said its Westfield living centres were evolving into hubs with swimming pools, medical and bank branches and large-scale “experience-based” tenants.

CBRE’s NSW executive managing director, Andrew Roy, said that as Australia emerges from the pandemic, Sydney’s position as a global gateway city and investment hub is firmly back in focus.

Despite the current climate of uncertainty, Roy said the outlook was positive across all major commercial property asset classes.

“At a more fundamental level, Sydney is expected to be at the forefront as ESG considerations, consumer expectations and technological advancements reshape the property industry and investor decision-making,” he said.

Roy and the author of CBRE’s Future Sydney report, Sass J-Baleh, said that by 2030 Sydney would be entrenched as a global tech and life sciences hub, aided by the rise of technology-related businesses and the city’s competitive advantages.

Early evidence of this can be seen in the development of the $3 billion Central tech hub by Dexus and Frasers Property Australia, anchored by the Atlassian tower.

“To accelerate the tech sector in the precinct, the NSW government is providing rebates on rents and fit-outs for ‘scale-up’ businesses who move there,” J-Baleh said in the report.