The winning bidders for the $200 million Australian Technology Park are understood to be Centuria and Mirvac, with some of the properties going into a newly-created fund.
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A decision is said to be imminent on the winning tenders. It has been a hard fought battle to win the right to buy and develop the ATP, which is being sold by UrbanGrowth NSW, which is the property arm of the NSW Government.
The 14-hectare site is seen as prime land close to the Sydney central business district.
Mirvac, which is backed by SunSuper and AMP Capital, last week lodged plans for the park which include three major complexes that span about 145,000 square metres. As part of that bid, it is expected to bring the Commonwealth Bank as an anchor tenant.
The lodgement of the proposal suggested Mirvac was now the front runner for the 14-hectare site in the heart of the Redfern/Eveleigh district.
It was understood that as part of the deal, the properties will be sold to Centuria as seed assets for an unlisted fund, with Mirvac as the developer.
In the development documents, Mirvac said it sees ATP "as a fantastic opportunity to regenerate the precinct and to make the precinct more inviting to the wider Redfern / Eveleigh community".
Other space will be used for tech start ups and, some of that land could also be used for the creation of a tech start up fund.
Centuria already has a presence in the area as the owner of 8 Central Avenue, which is the home of Channel 7's production business.
Centuria and Mirvac declined to comment on the market speculation and UrbanGrowth NSW said it was still going through the sale process.
If Mirvac and Centuria are successful, it will knock out the other strong bidders of Walker Corporation, which had Atlassian as a potential tenant, Aqualand and Goodman Group.
Atlassian, which launched its float this week, is said to be looking at a range of possible sites for its expanded office, with Memocorp's Wynyard Green at 17 York Street, the front runner.
UrbanGrowth NSW sounded out the sale of ATP to local residents in 2013 and then appointed Knight Frank in May this year to advise on the tender process to develop the park.
Under the terms of the request for tenders, the successful tenderer will be required to protect important heritage and public access values – including making an allowance for future access ways over the rail corridor into ATP – and to maintain and support the Park's role as a major employment hub with an emphasis on technology, creative, research and ICT/software industries.
"The Government is looking to sell ATP to enable further development consistent with the vision in the Major Development SEPP [State Environmental Planning Policy] 2005 and to release the capital locked in the asset," UrbanGrowth NSW said.
"UrbanGrowth NSW is working with the Government on plans to reinvest sale proceeds in the transformation of Central to Eveleigh."
The sale is part of the Baird Government's decision to unlock funds for its $20 billion infrastructure projects. It is also selling down its interest in the White Bay Power Station, with a mandate to developers to create a tech hub.
There are suggestions the global internet group Google is a potential tenant for a campus-style office complex.
