The state’s first industrial estate on track to become carbon neutral.

Hesperia identified the potential for ROE in early 2015, responding to a diminishing supply of premium, well-connected industrial land. The estate area was comprised of about 30 separately owned rural-residential land holdings, and required extensive acquisition negotiations prior to development. 

ROE has been designed to achieve carbon neutrality through investment in a range of initiatives. This included 18 months of research and product development to reduce concrete carbon emissions by 40 per cent.

ROE has received a $95 million investment by the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC). It was selected by the CEFC as its first direct investment to reduce embodied carbon in property construction. The CEFC finance will further a range of sustainability initiatives at ROE including use of low carbon materials, solar power generation and future potential connection to the South West Interconnected System, enabling power export to the rest of the metropolitan area.

ROE offers proximity to road and rail connections for logistics efficiencies and is configured to provide flexibility in lot sizes – from 2,000 square metres to over 10 hectares. The estate maximises logistic and warehouse requirements that cannot be accommodated in existing industrial areas.

The project required close management of complex urban design, engineering, environmental and planning requirements. Sustainability initiatives were at the forefront of project planning, such as on site water recycling and state-of-the art storm water management, low energy building materials including glazing, insulation and lighting, solar power generation, grid friendly technology, strategic native tree planting and enhancement of the cockatoo roost area.

A detailed environmental conservation strategy was implemented during development, along with extensive consultation and input from local, State and Federal stakeholders, to deliver best practice water-sensitive urban design that minimises ecological impacts.