A prime piece of land complete with a siding off New South Wales’ Main North railway is up for grabs.
Home to one of the few available rail sidings on the Main North railway between Sydney and Brisbane, the Landsdowne Industrial Estate in Kundle Kundle, near Taree, is on the market.
Until 2013 the home of UGL Rail’s Taree maintenance workshop, the 54.7 hectare estate comprises a rail manufacturing and maintenance facility off a rail siding, which branches into three separate sidings into workshops on-site.
The property is enhanced with significant hardstand areas, sealed internal roads, large manufacturing and maintenance workshops, store buildings, an administration centre, a café, and an on-site manager’s residence.
Bounded by the Main North railway to the east, and Landsdowne Road to the west, the site is 10 kilometres from the regional centre of Taree, 183 kilometres from Newcastle, and 300 kilometres north of Sydney.
It sits in close proximity to Taree Airport and the Pacific Highway.
On top of its existing facilities, the site has plenty of room for more; and that expansion should be justified by a surrounding area poised for population growth.
In close proximity to the estate is 874 combined hectares of residentially-zoned land with the capacity to house as many as 22,000 people over the next 30 years; a mixed-use centre and three neighbourhood centres; four schools; 112 hectares of employment and industrial land, and 400 hectares of primary production and rural employment land.
Northaime Consulting & Business Brokers’ Ian Farrar told Rail Express the property should be sought after within the rail, freight and logistics sector, due to its location, existing facilities, and capacity for new development.
“The site as an established rail infrastructure property with a rail siding, purpose-built buildings, warehousing, administration offices, canteen, and a range of equipment to suit a number of business operations relating to logistics, manufacturing, maintenance and distribution,” Mr Farrar said.
“The property has only been developed up to 25% and there is plenty of room for further redevelopment.”
Tenancies are already in place, so a buyer would have rental income right off the bat; and given NSW’s mid north coast region, and in particular the Taree region, is a recognized employment zone and population growth area, Mr Farrar noted the property’s significant potential for growth.
“The local council and state government are offering incentives for Companies to relocate to the mid north Coast region and in particular the Lansdowne Property estate,” he said.
“The location is adjacent to the Brimbin Town development which has been approved and will eventually be a new satellite town housing some 8,000 people, a retail centre, a commercial/ industrial zone, schools and a hospital.”
A rich history
50 years ago, Napier Grasslands built four large factories on the site, where it manufactured farm equipment for the Australian market, and to export overseas.
BHP steel was brought in via rail. Two sheds connected to the rail siding, to bring components in, and send out completed machines. Another shed was for research and development. The site produced farm equipment like trash seeders, mixers, post hole diggers, tines, large watering equipment, and more.
Eventually the company was acquired by A Goninan & Co., which at the time was building double deck passenger carriages in Newcastle, and would soon develop the DCA bogie for coal wagons.
The facilities at Landsdowne were used to build the bogies, and an additional facility was built to sand blast coal wagons for repainting.
Over the next few decades, the company worked on a range of rollingstock at Landsdowne, including large diesel locomotives, Sydney’s red rattlers, and flat top wagons for BHP. Goninan used the site as part of the significant Tangara train manufacturing and maintenance contract.
Goninan was in 1999 sold to United Group. A few years later it was rebranded UGL. In 2013, citing a lack of support for rail manufacturing from state and federal governments, UGL shut up shop at Landsdowne.
To find out more, contact Ian Farrar: northaime@bigpond.com, 0412 632 914