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As an investor, owner and manager at Brisbane Technology Park, Zernike Australia has made another significant commitment by signing up as the first tenant of the precinct’s planned $14 million new office complex The Dutch company, which manages science and technology parks around the world, plans to use the space to nurture innovative small to medium enterprises (SMEs) and expand its own operations. The deal means there are sufficient funds for construction to commence on the state of the-art, five-star green building as soon as development approval is received, with completion expected in late 2010. The cornerstone site at McKechnie Drive, Eight Mile Plains was bought at public auction for just over $1 million one month ago in a joint venture deal between Harvest Property, Zernike Australia and the Graystone Group. Zernike will lease 1600 of the new building’s 3233 square metres, using it both to expand its own activities and double the office space for its ‘Level One by Zernike’ initiative, which supports SMEs with a wide range of additional facilities and support services. Zernike CEO Arnold Stroobach said the new building would open up the opportunity for an additional 20 companies to become a part of a thriving technology, research and innovation community for a relatively low cost. “We installed a similar facility at Clunies Ross Court in Brisbane Technology Park last year - it has been fully occupied since the day we opened and has 12 current tenants,” Mr Stroobach said. “We are also in discussion with similar South East Queensland business precincts with the aim of further expanding the initiative.” Zernike Australia Pty Ltd has successfully managed the Brisbane Technology Park and the onsite Technology and Conference Centre on behalf of the Queensland Government since 2002. Queensland Manager Gill Laird-Portch said the precinct’s unique business proposition made it an ideal location for their target clients. “The fact that we specialise in the knowledge industries has helped Brisbane Technology Park remain resilient to the current economic woes,” Ms. Laird- Portch said. “The feedback from tenants, whether they lease 50 or 4,000 square metres, is that the campus style environment and competitive rental structure makes the precinct a cost-effective base from which to grow their businesses.” Harvest Property Director Chris Slack spoke on behalf of the joint venture. “Zernike not only brings a valuable service to the Park but also the state by nurturing the growth of knowledge based industries within South East Queensland.” Graystone CEO Tim Johnson added, “At the end of the day Brisbane
Technology Park has proven to be somewhat sheltered from the economic
storm. We are looking forward to getting into the construction phase as soon
as possible.” < Return to the Exchange front page More topics:
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