The move comes after SLC recently completed the $220 million Polaris Data Centre – a tier 3 data centre in Greater Springfield, Queensland, less than 30 minutes from Brisbane. “The Polaris data centre is the first of its kind in Queensland and a dedicated collocation facility offering 7000 square metres of raised floor space over three levels,” SLC executive general manager, commercial, Chris Schroor said. “The $220 million development will host mission-critical [information and communication technology] systems of government departments and international companies as well as supporting Greater Springfield’s key infrastructure services, such as hospitals, banks, supply chain management, email and internet,” Schroor said.The duo plans to build three $200 million data centres – similar to the recently completed project – in Melbourne, Sydney and Canberra.Peter McGrath deputy managing director of Leighton’s telecommunications division told CIN. “The intention is that we are looking at Melbourne, Sydney and Canberra, based on a 7000 square metre area that would approximately be that [$200 million] cost.” He said Leighton’s telecommunications division was an established player in the data centre market. “We have five centres today, and we have approximately 10,000 square metres of space. We link that with our fibre optic networking offer from another company we own, called NextGen [Networks] – and we’ve seen quite strong demand in the market for those types of services. “Today we are at a point where our existing facilities are almost full, so we need further capacity for our own internal business.” McGrath said that under the joint venture with SLC, Leighton will be involved at all development stages, including those where it attracts state and federal government tenants, and constructs and operates the data centres.“So it is not just a construction deal in its own right. It is much more than that.” “It is the development of significant data centre facilities for blue-chip corporate and governments to lease on ten to fifteen-year terms,” he said. According to Leighton, the JV brings a variety of skills to the plate including extensive data centre design, construction, operations and finance capabilities. The company said the collaboration of skills and experience “would redefine the way data centres are developed in Australia.” Leighton general manager of infrastructure investment, Peter Hicks, said many state and federal government agencies were reviewing their data centres, and other associated information technology infrastructure, to reduce greenhouse emissions and costs. “We believe our partnership with Springfield Land Corporation will greatly assist governments at all levels in identifying and achieving greater energy efficiencies through the design and operation of new state-of-the-art data centre facilities,” Hicks said.
