The forthcoming Western Sydney airport is set to prove fruitful for the wider region, specifically industrial hubs, when it opens in late October this year.

New research from Commonwealth Bank shows $24 billion in industrial development has been proposed around the new Western Sydney International (Nancy Bird Walton) Airport, set to increase the region’s floorspace for the asset class by 55% or 5.5 million square metres over the next 10 to 12 years.

CBA found the outer central west region now has the largest industrial development pipeline of 17 Australian regions the bank monitors.

“It’s been 56 years since the last public airport in Australia, at Tullamarine, Melbourne, was completed, so the chance to create completely new industrial and business areas of this type and scale, doesn’t often present itself,” said Kevin Stanley, CBA’s director of commercial property.

The region’s population growth is set to support the supply, which by 2041 is expected to increase by 26% or 653,000 people; Western Sydney’s population share of Greater Sydney is set to rise from 44% to 47%.

In addition, around $22 billion of transport and enabling infrastructure is set to be delivered; the new airport is curfew-free unlike Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport in Mascot, which will support demand for cold storage facilities supporting the handling of fresh food and refrigerated products for food retailers through the night.

Some of the most popular keywords in industrial buy and lease searches on realcommercial.com.au so far in 2026 relate to food storage and freezers.

The industrial sector has been one of Australia’s sustained commercial property bright spots; yields are compressing strongly, while Sydney’s industrial sector has the tightest yields in the country at 4.2%.

Enquiry levels for Western Sydney industrial properties on realcommercial.com.au are also strong, which experts attribute to the growth of e-commerce and logistics to support large retailers.

Four out of the 10 most-viewed listings in New South Wales in August were industrial properties in western Sydney; specifically, seven out of 10 of the most viewed and enquired industrial properties in NSW over the month were in the region.

Drivers will be able to access the airport from the M12 Motorway, initially known as Western Sydney Airport Motorway.

On the leasing side, five out of 10 of the most-viewed properties in NSW were industrial properties based in Sydney’s west.

While the new supply pipeline is welcome for the region, Ray White Commercial Western Sydney agent Andrew Sacco said it will lead tenants to chase higher-spec properties further west.

“We are seeing a lack of serviced and ready-to-be-developed industrial land available in existing precincts. As a result, we anticipate these areas will become quite competitive among owner-occupiers and developers,” he said.

“Due to the strong connectivity – servicing the western suburbs via the Northern Road and M12 motorway – we predict that tenant demand for quality industrial assets will be strong as tenants seek to minimise transit time and costs for goods and services.”

Western Sydney’s Nancy Bird Walton Airport will open in October. Picture: Britta Campion

The flight-to-quality phenomenon has been well-documented in the office asset class, where tenants covet newer, A-grade and premium offices – financial results from Mirvac illustrate this strongly – but this could be a relatively new phenomenon in industrial.

“Demand remains strong within the industrial sector, however, tenants, owner-occupiers, and developers want more value for their money,” said Joseph Assaf, RWC Western Sydney director.

“We are witnessing these groups move further out west as they begin to be priced out of the more established inner industrial precincts and are willing to travel slightly further for better value.”

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Controversial Cookie Queen Brooke Bellamy was front and centre as the new Brooki Bakehouse opened in Sydney.

Social media star Bellamy opened her 12th Aussie store in the bustling Barangaroo precinct in Sydney’s CBD on Friday.

The opening of the latest bricks and mortal instalment of the super popular Bakehouse chain, which started up in Queensland, attracted a crowd of hundreds, with a long queue trailing down Barangaroo Ave, in one of the most picturesque parts of Sydney, alongside the Harbour foreshore.

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Brooki Bakehouse now has 12 stores in Australia.

Brooke promoted the opening of the Barangaroo store, her second in the Harbour City after she previously opened one in Sydney Airport.

That came on the back of the phenomenal success of her store at Brisbane Domestic Airport.

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Ta, da!

Fans were not deterred by the drama surrounding star bake Brooke, who boasts millions of social media followers, amid accusations from RecipeTin Eats founder Nagi Maehashi, who has claimed Brooke’s recipes are very similar to her own.

It is Brooki Bakehouse’s 12th store.

She has indicated a 13th store will soon open at Perth Airport, as the cookie chain continues its expansion across Australia.

After the rapid rise of her cookie empire, last year Bellamy was caught up in a bitter feud with fellow baker Maehashi, who accused Bellamy of plagiarising two or her recipes for caramel slice and baklava in her cookbook.

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Popular chef Nagi Maehashi has made plagarisym allegations against Brooki’s Bakehouse found Brooke Bellamy.

Instagram post by Nagi Maehashi who published RecipeTin Eats accusing Brooke Saward Brooki for copying her recipes in Bake with Brooki – Photo Supplied Instagram – Nagi & Dozer RecipeTin Eats

Bellamy denied the allegations.

‘I did not plagiarise any recipes in my book which consists of 100 recipes I have created over many years, since falling in love with baking as a child and growing up baking with my mum in our home kitchen,’ she said

Penguin, the publisher of Bake With Brooki, has also rejected the claims.

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Acclaimed Australian chefs who have established their culinary footprint in cities like Sydney and Melbourne are branching interstate to diversity their offering and grow their restaurant portfolio.

But what works in one major city, might not play out in the next as these restaurateurs reveal.

The farmer has a third daughter in Sydney – and she’s Latina

Alejandro Saravia’s Good Food Guide-hatted Farmer’s Daughter has become a Melbourne institution in the last five years, largely due to its consistency in meal quality and service.

Known for its Gippsland-centric menu, the formula hits the right note with diners who want to support local farmers and micro-businesses when they head out for a fancy meal. It’s a culinary approach that’s always seasonal and where patronage is growing.

In the heart of Sydney’s CBD, and located within the heritage listed GPO, is where Saravia has opened Morena – a new flavour hit that’s Latin American-leaning in its ambition to bring a Peruvian-inspired menu to the table.

In Melbourne, he’d won over the corporate and business clientele across two venues, including Victoria by Farmer’s at Federation Square, and the timing to move to Sydney felt right.

Alejandro Saravia of Farmer’s Daughter fame. Picture: Supplied

“The location is the key in Sydney for us. The GPO building at Martin Place is a Sydney landmark, in the heart of the financial district and tourists are all around – that’s the audience we want to tap into,” Mr Saravia told realcommercial.com.au.

“Morena is an elevated Latin American concept which is more suited to Sydney; they seem ready to embrace the Latin American food more so than in Melbourne which is why we went down this route here.”

Sydney diners also love a happy hour offering, yet in Saravia’s experience, Melbourne couldn’t care less – if they want a drink, they’ll turn up for it no matter what.

Weather also impacts how Sydneysiders dine – when the weather’s not great, they won’t venture, whereas in Melbourne, rain hail or shine, they commit.

Inside Morena, Sydney. Picture: Supplied, Arianna Leggiero

Saravia splits time between the two cities and admits the dining market in Melbourne is more reliable than Sydney.

“In Melbourne, it’s about doing food and beverage well without being too pretentious or over the top – it’s very classic and more refined in a sense.

“Yet in Sydney, people want to be entertained with table side service; they constantly need that entertainment on offer – they’re quick and fast. They push hard on the consumer offering.”

The dining formula is a mix of pre-fixed day time menus – more specials and tasting menus that come with three varietals. When it comes to high end wine, Sydney is out-drinking Melbourne diners at his venues.

Saravia has signed a 15-year lease at GPO Sydney – a chance to really give his hospitality venue a good crack.

“It’s a long time but it also gives you a good length of time to invest with a clear vision and a longer return, rather than try recover money in a shorter period of time – where we know in hospitality is not the case,” he said.

“Trading in the first three months of a new business is a honeymoon period for any restaurant.

“People come to the venue and you’re booked out, then it drops considerably and people move onto the next new opening – that’s the window you have to capture them with new offerings and give them a reason to come back.”

Saravia says Sydney has embraced Latin food culture more than Melbourne. Picture: Supplied

Cracking the Melbourne code

Having worked in hospitality around the world – including creating the menu on Qatar Airways business- and first-class flights – Sydney restaurateur and executive chef Ross Lusted opened his first restaurant Marmelo in Melbourne on Russell Street two years ago.

“People said to me you’re mad opening a restaurant in Melbourne, and that Sydney chefs don’t do well in Melbourne” Mr Lusted said.

“I never really thought of it like that, and it made total sense to come here and bring my lens of Portuguese to Melbourne. It’s not a forced narrative, and one that diners are keen to take on board.”

The San Pellegrino Young Chef Judge for 2026 and his wife Sunny also have the fine dining restaurant Woodcut at Crown Sydney – the one that then Crown owner James Packer asked him to open at the Casino back in 2020.

Ross Lusted of Woodcut fame in Sydney has moved down south with his restaurant, Marmelo, in Melbourne. Picture: Supplied

“I’d been working on Woodcut for five years in the USA, and would have opened a series in the States if it hadn’t been for the financial crisis,” Mr Lusted said.

“The fact that James loved my other Sydney restaurant [Bridge Room, closed in 2019] and asked if I wanted to open something bigger, I was like well… actually?!”

Melbourne restaurant marvel opens in Sydney

Lee Ho Fook’s award-winning chef and restaurateur, Victor Liong, recently opened his Sydney restaurant in the heritage listed Porter House in the CBD. He redefines Chinese cuisine through a modern Australian lens, and his decision to move to Sydney was to tap into the demand for Chinese gastronomy.

“In Sydney, Le Ho Fook takes more of a gastronomic focus; for us, it’s about seeing what’s new in Chinese gastronomy and understanding how I fit into the Australian dining landscape,” Mr Liong said.

Liong, who has also expanded with a larger restaurant footprint at Marvel Stadium, can now host up to 150 diners at Marvel’s Medallion Club. That’s more than double he can accommodate at his Duckboard Place restaurant off Flinders Lane.

Victor Liong of Lee Ho Fook fame is bringing his gastronomical Chinese talents north to Sydney. Picture: Supplied, Arianna Leggiero

And it’s also where diners can enjoy dumplings, which aren’t available at his original location – it’s that point of difference that keeps the palette chasers ever attentive to what might happen next.

The upgraded restaurant footprint at Marvel chimes on his two-hatted success at Good Food Guide too.

“At Marvel, Le Ho Fook diners want high-quality classic experiences. The dumplings are a hit here; whereas in Sydney we are more about share plates, larger dishes and classic flavour profiles that we’ve built in terms of our signature,” Mr Liong said.

According to Marvel Stadium’s CEO Scott Fitzgerald, knowing that Liong extends his culinary reputation interstate will no doubt do wonders for his placement at the sporting ground.

“At Marvel we’re trying to be the best of Melbourne and if you don’t have a really good modern Asian cuisine, then you’re not reflective of Melbourne and Melbourne’s food heritage,” Mr Fitzgerald said.

Household name heads north

Shane Delia, best known for his Melbourne restaurants Maha – named after his wife – and Jayda – his daughter – opened his first restaurant in Brisbane last year.

Layla is contributing to the burgeoning food scene in Brisbane, bringing a modern Middle Eastern inspiration to the table.

“There is so much going on in Brisbane; there’s a sense of hope, optimism, a stable economy and the Olympics is around the corner. The produce is top quality and it feels like a breath of fresh air to have a restaurant here,” Mr Delia said.

Shane Delia’s aim of opening in Brisbane is to avoid the echo chamber of Melbourne. Picture: Supplied, Jason Loucas

“I think when you’ve be stuck in the same city for a long time, you become restrained creatively. People expect a certain cuisine and it’s almost like you’re in an echo chamber.

“For me there’s been many freedoms that have come with having a presence interstate, and you become unshackled and cook food that you want to cook – without being under the culinary microscope of Melbourne. It has been liberating.”

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Billionaire-owned property developer Revelop has bought a trio of Sydney shopping centres – Kareela Village, Quakers Court and Ingleburn Village – for $126.3m in off-market play that boosts its NSW shopping centre portfolio.

The purchase by the billionaire cousins who control Revelop adds to their network of neighbourhood shopping centres and residential developments. It is understood the portfolio was sold by the private Dan family.

The purchase comes as confidence in the convenience retail sector rises as it stays resilient in tough times and Revelop has proven savvy in building up its holdings through the cycle.

Cousins Anthony El-Hazouri, 36, and Charbel Hazzouri, 37, founded Revelop in 2008, and have amassed a portfolio of more than 80 commercial properties. Most of their deals have been in Sydney, including shopping centres at Greystanes, Frenchs Forest, Balgowlah and Forest Lodge.

Their estimated $2.84bn combined fortune placed them 63rd and 64th on this year’s edition of The List – Australia’s Richest 250.

The three centres span more than 20,000sq m of retail space and they are anchored by two Coles and one Woolworths supermarkets, alongside about 57 specialty retailers.

“These centres tick all the boxes for us: strong locations, leading supermarket anchors, established customer loyalty and clear opportunities to unlock additional value through hands-on ownership,” Mr El-Hazouri said. Revelop said the centres complemented its Sydney network and the assets have strong retail fundamentals.

“This acquisition expands our Sydney footprint and reinforces our confidence in the long-term strength of convenience retail. We’re excited to partner with retailers and local communities to continue improving these centres and building on their success,” Mr Hazzouri said.

JLL agents Sam Hatcher, Nick Willis, Sebastian Fahey and David Mahood handled the deal.

They said it was the largest neighbourhood centre portfolio sale in Sydney in more than a decade.

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