Western Sydney University has taken possession of its new state-of-the-art health and medical research hub with the practical completion of stage 1 of Charter Hall’s $350 million Westmead Innovation Quarter (iQ) precinct.

Charter Hall is an ASX-listed funds manager with a market value of $5.44 billion, and teamed up with the WSU in late 2019 to launch the deal, with the development approval for stages 1 and 2 received in June 2020.

The A-grade development comprises around 43,000 square metres of health, research, education and commercial space, as well as mixed-use research, health, commercial and retail space across three towers.

IQ will be the new home to WSU medical research organisations the MARCS Institute, NICM Health Research Institute and Translational Health Research Institute (THRI), as well as CSIRO and WentWest.

Charter Hall chief executive David Harrison said in June 2020 that receiving the development approval and the commencement of construction works was an “exciting step forward for the project”.

“There’s never been a more important time to focus on health research and innovation, and this project
collaboration with Western Sydney University will deliver critical infrastructure to support this,” Harrison said.

Healthcare and life sciences are seen as significant growth sectors for the property industry. Many listed real estate investment trusts have launched funds, including Dexus, Centuria and Lendlease, and HomeCo, among others, to buy and develop medical and health-based assets.

JLL’s office leasing NSW senior director, Stephen Panagiotopoulos, who worked on the iQ project, said as a market starved of medical investment, western Sydney is now in the midst of a medical boom.

“State-of-the-art developments such as iQ are driving health related industries to the area, with private sector off-shoots of the larger life sciences operators increasingly occupying space,” Panagiotopoulos said.