Walker Corporation is an Australian privately-owned property development company.
Most notably, Walker Corporation is responsible for the development and restoration of several significant Australian sites, including
King Street Wharf
King Street Wharf is a mixed-use tourism, commercial, residential, retail and maritime development on the eastern shore of Darling Harbour, an inlet of Sydney Harbour, Australia. Located on the western side of the city's central business distri ...
Broadway Shopping Centre
Broadway Shopping Centre is a shopping centre in Sydney, located in the Broadway locality. It features a 500-seat Food Court and Hoyts 12-screen cinema complex along with major retailers Kmart, Coles, Target, Aldi, Dymocks Booksellers, J ...
, and
Rhodes Waterside
Rhodes Waterside (previously known as Rhodes Shopping Centre) is a shopping centre in the suburb of Rhodes in the Inner West of Sydney.
Transport
The Northern Line offer frequent train services to Rhodes Station which is a short walk from th ...
shopping centre in Sydney.
History
The company was founded in 1964 by Lang & Alec Walker, initially as an
earthmoving
Earthworks are engineering works created through the processing of parts of the earth's surface involving quantities of soil or unformed rock.
Shoring structures
An incomplete list of possible temporary or permanent geotechnical shoring structur ...
and
civil engineering
Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads, bridges, canals, dams, airports, sewa ...
business until 1972 when Lang Walker formed The Walker Group and expanded into
property development
Real estate development, or property development, is a business process, encompassing activities that range from the renovation and re- lease of existing buildings to the purchase of raw land and the sale of developed land or parcels to others. ...
. Walker Corporation joined the
Australian Securities Exchange
Australian Securities Exchange Ltd or ASX, is an Australian public company that operates Australia's primary securities exchange, the Australian Securities Exchange (sometimes referred to outside of Australia as, or confused within Australia as ...
in 1994. In 1999, Lang Walker sold his shares in Walker Corporation Ltd to Australand Holdings Limited (now
Frasers Property
Frasers Property is a Singaporean multinational real estate and property management company that develops, owns, and manages properties across the globe. It owns and manages properties in the commercial, residential, hospitality, retail, and indu ...
), reserving the right to reuse the Walker Corporation name after January 2003. Lang Walker exercised that right in 2003, renaming McRoss Developments Pty Ltd to Walker Corporation. In 2006, Walker Corporation sold over A$1.1 billion worth of assets to Mirvac, retaining their industrial and some of their commercial & retail interests.
In 2011 Walker Corporation began development of Collins Square, then the largest commercial mixed-use development in Australia, with construction completed in 2019.
In 2014 Walker Corporation was selected by the
Queensland Government
The Queensland Government is the democratic administrative authority of the Australian state of Queensland. The Government of Queensland, a parliamentary constitutional monarchy was formed in 1859 as prescribed in its Constitution, as amended f ...
&
Redland City
Redland City, better known as the Redlands and formerly known as Redland Shire, is a Local government in Australia, local government area and a part of the Brisbane metropolitan area in South East Queensland. With a population of 156,863 in Jun ...
Council as the preferred partner to redevelop
Toondah Harbour
Toondah Harbour is a boat harbour at Cleveland, Queensland, Cleveland in Redland City, Queensland, Australia. It is in southern Moreton Bay. It is the location of the Stradbroke Island Ferry Terminal used by water taxis and vehicular ferries to ...
, a 67-
hectare
The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100- metre sides (1 hm2), or 10,000 m2, and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. An acre i ...
site which the government had declared a Priority Development Area located in Redland City,
Queensland
)
, nickname = Sunshine State
, image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, establishe ...
. The project has been a source of controversy, with parts of the proposed development area covering a
Ramsar site
A Ramsar site is a wetland site designated to be of international importance under the Ramsar Convention,8 ha (O)
*** Permanent 8 ha (P)
*** Seasonal Intermittent < 8 ha(Ts)
**
Minister for the Environment and Energy
The Australian Minister for the Environment and Water is a position which is currently held by Tanya Plibersek in the Albanese ministry since 1 June 2022, following the Australian federal election in 2022.
In the Government of Australia, the ...
Josh Frydenberg to lobby for boundary changes to reduce the size of the Ramsar site, described by the company as a matter of “urgent national interest.” The company released revised plans in 2018, reducing the proposed
land reclamation
Land reclamation, usually known as reclamation, and also known as land fill (not to be confused with a waste landfill), is the process of creating new land from oceans, seas, riverbeds or lake beds. The land reclaimed is known as reclamat ...
area by 12 hectares and reducing the impact on neighbouring Cassim Island. In 2022 the company released the project’s Environmental Impact Statement, which will be examined by the Government following public consultation.
In 2015 Walker Corporation released plans for their largest international development Senibong Cove, a 16-hectare development located in
Johor Bahru
Johor Bahru (), colloquially referred to as JB, is the capital city of the state of Johor, Malaysia. It is located at the southern end of Peninsular Malaysia,along the north bank of the Straits of Johor, opposite of the city-state Singapore. ...
,
Malaysia
Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federal constitutional monarchy consists of thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two regions: Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo's East Mal ...
. In 2016 the company's plans for a redevelopment of
Adelaide
Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...
's Festival Plaza were approved by the state's Development Assessment Commission, with revised plans including expansions to the retail component approved in late 2020.
The company is currently developing over A$30 billion worth of projects across Australia and Malaysia.
Current projects
* Collins Square: Australia’s largest commercial mixed-use development when completed in 2018, occupying a full
Melbourne CBD
The Melbourne central business district (also known colloquially as simply "The City" or "The CBD") is the city centre and main urban area of the city of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, centred on the Hoddle Grid, the oldest part of the city l ...
block.
* Parramatta Square: A $3.2 billion project on a 3-hectare site in
Parramatta
Parramatta () is a suburb and major Central business district, commercial centre in Greater Western Sydney, located in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located approximately west of the Sydney central business district on the ban ...
,
New South Wales
)
, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
, consisting of 4 commercial towers, a retail district, and public spaces.
* Riverlea: The largest residential development in
South Australia
South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest o ...
’s history, comprising approximately 12,000 homes and expected to take over two decades to complete.
* Maroochydore City Centre: Australia’s largest
greenfield
Greenfield or Greenfields may refer to:
Engineering and Business
* Greenfield agreement, an employment agreement for a new organisation
* Greenfield investment, the investment in a structure in an area where no previous facilities exist
* Greenf ...
Maroochydore
Maroochydore ( ) is a coastal town in the Sunshine Coast Region, Queensland, Australia.
The town was subdivided from the Cotton Tree reserve by Surveyor Thomas O'Connor in 1903. The land was acquired from William Pettigrew who had a timber de ...
,
Queensland
)
, nickname = Sunshine State
, image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, establishe ...
, estimated to take 15-20 years to complete.
* Festival Tower: A $1 billion commercial & retail development and public square in the
Adelaide CBD
Adelaide city centre (Kaurna: Tarndanya) is the inner city locality of Greater Adelaide, the capital city of South Australia. It is known by locals simply as "the City" or "Town" to distinguish it from Greater Adelaide and from the City of Ade ...
, expected to be completed in late 2023.
* Senibong Cove: A jointly-developed Malaysian masterplanned precinct in close proximity to the Johor-Singapore Causeway, containing over 8,000 homes, a 100-berth
marina
A marina (from Spanish , Portuguese and Italian : ''marina'', "coast" or "shore") is a dock or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats.
A marina differs from a port in that a marina does not handle large passenger ships or ...
, and a retail precinct built on over 400 hectares of reclaimed land. Senibong Cove received the South East Asia Property Awards’ ‘Best Villa/Housing Development’ award for multiple consecutive years.
* Kokomo Private Island: A six-
star
A star is an astronomical object comprising a luminous spheroid of plasma (physics), plasma held together by its gravity. The List of nearest stars and brown dwarfs, nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked ...
private resort occupying an entire 57-hectare Fijian island, comprising 21 villas and five residences.
* Main Drive Kew: A $400 million residential development on the former Kew Cottages site in the leafy Melbourne suburb of Kew. The project is a joint venture between Walker Corporation and the Victorian Government and has been the subject of several accolades, controversies, allegations, and legal disputes. Construction of stage 1 was completed in 2008 and was followed by several disputes between purchasers, consultants, and developers. The final stage was completed in 2014.