![Jason Little, general manager of Goodman Group Australia, is keen to expand near the Port of Brisbane.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170620170950/http://www.afr.com/content/dam/images/g/w/u/z/h/p/image.related.afrArticleLead.620x350.gwuoit.png/1497954488601.jpg)
Listed industrial property giant Goodman Group has signed on multinational food and beverage corporation PepsiCo at its Export Motorway Estate and purchased more land as part of an expansion near the Port of Brisbane where retailer Amazon could soon be looking for property.
Goodman decided to speculatively build 30,000 square metres of industrial facilities at the estate and has already fully leased the entire holding ahead of practical completion.
PepsiCo's ‎northern logistics manager Alastair Woods said the location near the port and major arterials was crucial in the company decision to lease the Goodman space.
"We chose Export Motorway Estate as our new distribution hub in Brisbane because it was the stand-out property we were looking for," he said.
"The high-end facilities are brand new and strategically located close to key transport networks."
Savills associate director Shaw Harrison negotiated the lease with PepsiCo.
PepsiCo will lease about 20,000 square metres for an initial three years at a rent of about $120 per square metre.
The PepsiCo lease deal follows Deliver Group and MRC Global's commitments.
Goodman, which is a major developer for online behemoth Amazon, is expanding its presence near the Port of Brisbane where some developers have been anticipating Amazon will seek a new facility when its property requirements are made known.
The company has also just purchased a 2.8-hectare site in Brisbane's Port precinct near the Export Motorway Estate for just under $10 million.
Access to transport
Goodman's general manager for Australia Jason Little said the company was making the most of the growth in Brisbane.
"In the last five years, we have grown our presence on the TradeCoast from one small warehouse, to a portfolio of over 122,000sq m of new developments for customers such as Kmart, Silk Contract Logistics and Yusen," Mr Little said.
"In addition to its proximity to transport infrastructure, the TradeCoast is the largest employment zone in Queensland after the Brisbane CBD.
"This means that not only do our customers have great access to transport, but they also have great access to human capital in this prime supply chain location."
Goodman's purchase of the land will be used to create what it calls the new Port Industry Park which will see a 16,000sq m development able to accommodate one or two users with separate hardstands.
The development will be available to lease in mid-2018.
JLL industrial director Brendan Delahunty, who negotiated the sale of the land to Goodman, said the port precinct has been an area of constant interest for large occupiers seeking A-Grade facilities.
"A lot of this is due to the huge investment in road infrastructure over the past five years, which has provided arterial access from the port and local area to the Gateway Motorway, airport and then connects directly to the CBD," Mr Delahunty said.
"Goodman have capitalised on the demand for this area when it originally attracted Kmart and Silk Logistics into their portfolio."