Ground broken on Amazon’s new Melbourne HQ

Construction has commenced on what will become Amazon’s new Melbourne headquarters at 555 Collins Street in the CBD.

Stage 1 of the $1.5 billion Charter Hall Group construction project is slated to be completed in early 2023.

AWS Australia and New Zealand managing director Adam Beavis was among the guests at an on-site celebration of the pouring of the foundations today. Other guests included Victorian Treasurer The Hon Tim Pallas MP, Lord Mayor of Melbourne Sally Capp, as well as execs from Charter Hall and construction partner Lendlease.

“We’re excited to be part of the reinvigoration of Melbourne CBD, by strengthening our local presence in the Victorian economy,” Beavis said at the event.

“Melbourne has a rich community of innovators, and we are looking forward to bringing Amazon’s growing local workforce to 555 Collins Street so we can continue to invent and innovate on behalf of customers across our Amazon and AWS businesses in Australia. 555 Collins comes with a 6 Star Green rating and is constructed under a carbon-neutral framework, which will contribute to helping us reach our goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2040.” 

Stage 1 of 555 Collins Street will comprise a $750 million, 48,000 square metre office tower on the corner of Collins Street and King Street. 

The Stage 2 office tower will comprise 32,000 square metres.

It will accommodate up to 7,500 CBD workers and, according to a statement, is designed for a post-COVID-19 operating environment, with smart building technology that monitors air quality and touchless amenities.

Beavis added, “The health and safety of our employees is and has been our top priority as we’ve thought about how and where people should work during the pandemic, and we’ve been highly supportive of our Australian employees working from home. 

“We recognise the way we work has been changed forever by the pandemic. As Melbourne emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic, we are looking forward to gradually returning to an office-centric culture as our baseline.”