Savills has today announced the appointment of 10 new hires to its Victorian Industrial team. The team of new operatives will be based in the Savills Melbourne office and will provide a full service offering to the agency’s industrial clientele.

Matt Ellis leads the new team as State Director, Industrial, having spent over 25 years in the industry. He will be responsible for building and nurturing client relationships, advising on industrial sales and leasing transactions as well as identifying new opportunities in the market and providing senior strategic counsel to clients.

Joining Matt are Directors Matt Crofts, Mario Moscon, Anthony Cannizzaro, Tom Edwards and Danielle Tadi, as well as Arthur Vainbrant (Associate Director), Charlie Hodge (Executive), Brad Synott (Senior Analyst) and Tegan O’Brien (Manager).

Michael Wall, National Head, Industrial and Logistics at Savills Australia said a shift in appetite for industrial space in Melbourne from occupiers willing to invest in their supply chain, which has become even more compelling due to the recent economic headwinds, as well as a projected need for additional space as population growth returns to its pre-pandemic average, are just a few of the key factors influencing the new team’s recruitment.

“We’re anticipating incredible potential for our clients in Victoria, and in particular Melbourne, in the short to long term,” Mr Wall said.

“Melbourne is Australia’s largest industrial property market with more than 26,000 ha of employment zoned land. That’s around 40% larger than Sydney’s industrial market,” Mr Wall said.

“While record low vacancies in Sydney and Melbourne is limiting the churn of existing industrial floor space, the consumption of industrial land in Melbourne has historically been higher than other east coast markets.”

Between 2019 and 2021, around 301 ha of land was taken up in Melbourne compared to an average of 130 ha per annum in Sydney. With the possibility Victoria’s population could grow by a further 1.2 million people over the coming decade, it’s realistic - using the general rule of thumb of 4sq m of warehouse space per person - to expect the state will need approx. 4.8 million sq m of additional warehouse space to service the population.

Mr Wall says, “This represents a favourable forecast for our clients and the Victorian industrial and logistics sectors in general. The significant investment Savills has made bringing Matt and his team in to strengthen our existing talent means we’re able to seamlessly support our clients as they take advantage of the new opportunities available to them,” Mr Wall said.

Speaking on his new role with Savills, Matt Ellis said, “I’m delighted to be leading the Victorian Industrial team at Savills and growing a team of the best brokers in the market.

“There’s never been a more exciting time to be working in Melbourne’s industrial space. More than $28b has been transacted in Melbourne over the past decade, and despite some cooling of overall investment volumes towards the end of last year, we’re still seeing a considerable inflow of capital to Melbourne’s industrial real estate versus that of, say the Sydney market,” Mr Ellis said.

“It’s an exciting time of growth for the Savills Industrial team and Victorian business alike as we welcome one of the biggest team integrations in Savills Australia’s history,” Mr Wall concluded.