US giant Spectrum Brands follows Costco to Moorabbin Airport

US consumer goods company Spectrum Brands will park its Australasian headquarters and a distribution centre more than double the size of nearby Costco at the Moorabbin Airport business park precinct in Melbourne’s south.

The company, which distributes products including Remington, Russell Hobbs and Armour All, will move into a purpose-built 30,668sqm warehouse and office facility, due for completion in January, on a 10-year lease.

The facility will comprise a 28,150sqm warehouse and 2518sqm two-level office, and comes as a number of other major companies set up shop at the Goodman Group-owned 123ha business park, which made headlines when bulk goods giant Costco opened its eighth Australian store there in November last year.

Dramatic shift: Westfield moves with the times

Among the names snapping up leases at the airport is spice seller McCormick Foods, which will move into a purpose-built 11,445sqm warehouse and office facility within Chifley Business Park, near the southern end of the site.

A significant 6764sqm expansion of the precinct’s Kingston Central Plaza shopping centre is also underway, with Toys ‘R’ Us to take up 3231sqm, electrical goods chain The Good Guys pre-committed to 2000sqm and the current ALDI supermarket set to expand by 1460sqm and extend its lease by 10 years.

The encouraging trading results demonstrated by Costco at this location has led to strong interest from a number of international retailers

CBRE’s head of large format retail Chris Parry says Costco’s success at Moorabbin has put the airport on the map for other retailers.

“The encouraging trading results demonstrated by Costco at this location has led to strong interest from a number of international retailers looking to establish a foothold in Melbourne, and more importantly, in this location,” Parry says.

Spectrum Brands, which also imports the George Foreman line of kitchen products, has operated out of a number of smaller premises at the airport since 2004.

Spectrum’s Asia Pacific chief financial officer Darren Barling says the airport complex suits its expansion needs.

“We have a strong 14-year relationship with Goodman and over that time have occupied space across three different sites within Chifley Business Park,” he says.

Five other retail spaces within Kingston Central Plaza remain unfilled ahead of the expansion’s opening in October, though Goodman Group expects those to be leased before the redevelopment is completed in October.

Goodman Group acquired the airport’s industrial site for more than $200 million in 2010.