Melbourne Airport is a slowly emerging behemoth.
Invisible to most visitors is a vast construction site – a new terminal, a new parking hub, an elevated road network, additional road improvements and power, water and gas infrastructure – including a rapidly growing business park that aims to rival the industrial estates of Melbourne's north and west.
With 2400 hectares and additional acquired private land, Melbourne Airport is bigger than the world's busiest international airport, Heathrow.
"We don't have a lack of space, we don't have a lack of ambition, we are putting our money where our mouth is, " airport chief executive Chris Woodruff said.
Capital expenditure this year is $750 million, with $6 billion to be spent over the next 10 years, and $10 billion over 20 years.
However, the special "baby" of Linc Houghton, the airport's head of property and construction, is the Business Park – 350 hectares that has 160 hectares of empty space.
"We have transitioned historically from where we did joint ventures or allowed third parties to develop our land, " Mr Houghton said. "We now want to be the owner/developer."
A key component is the $100 million Airport Drive, which will give direct access from the Western Ring Road, creating a second freeway connection to the airport.
Airport Drive also includes a median strip that will be the route of the proposed rail link to the airport.
A total of $200 million is being spent this year – $60 million last year – on the Business Park, which is aimed at big logistics operations with warehouse needs from 10,000 square metres to 100,000 square metres. Wide roads are being built to cater for large trucks.
Under construction are a huge TNT project – a 38,000 square metre parcel-sorting facility on a 121,000 square metre site – and a Toll Holdings warehouse of more than 70,000 square metres on 19 hectares.
Mr Houghton said when completed in 10 years, the Business Park would have about 220 hectares of developed land with 1 million square metres of facilities.
As well as industrial warehousing, complementary developments will include cafes, offices, hotels, petrol stations and car parks. First cab off the rank next year will be a new Quest Serviced Apartments building with 96 units for the airport's commercial clients to use.
Another part of the airport's commercial armour is the Melbourne Airport Cargo Estate, 46 hectares of land that Mr Houghton describes as an "incubator estate".
"It provides accommodation on a smaller scale – sub 10,000 square metres – for companies that want to be in the airport so they can handle freight for whatever reason, but are not able to handle larger business volumes," he said.
"It's also for small-scale logistics companies who we want to grow to take 10,000 square metres in the Business Park." When fully developed, it will provide warehousing totalling 184,000 square metres, including retail outlets.
In its infancy is the 63-hectare Gateway site along the Tullamarine Freeway and Melrose Drive. The airport plans to entice high-value commercial developments such as premium office, retail, car parking and high-tech warehousing. Its most well-known tenant is the new 10-hectare training and community centre of the Essendon Football Club.
