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NSW government to develop health and innovation campus
Herbert Smith Freehills has advised the NSW government on negotiating on the development of a world-leading health and innovation campus.
Tony Zhang
Firm: Herbert Smith Freehills (NSW government).
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Deal: Herbert Smith Freehills has advised the NSW Department of Premier and Cabinet on its negotiations with the University of Sydney in relation to a framework to facilitate the development of a world-leading health and innovation campus.
Value: Undisclosed.
Area: Infrastructure, government.
Key players: The Herbert Smith Freehills team was led by partners Nicholas Carney, Julie Couch and Peter Briggs, with support from senior associates Rebecca Davie and Maxwell Wu, and solicitors Emma Mackey, Cecilia Ngu and Stephanie Purcell.
Deal significance: The negotiations between the NSW government and the University of Sydney relate to plans for a potential new multidisciplinary university campus, which will be delivered within the Westmead Health and Innovation District, near Parramatta in western Sydney.
The development of the campus will cement the district’s role as one of Australia’s largest health, education, research and training precincts.
The agreement marks the next step in exclusive negotiations between NSW government and the university, which commenced in November 2018. It confirms the University of Sydney as the “educational anchor” for the government’s planned innovation district, based on the university’s leading status as a top 100 global university. It also confirms a site for the new campus in Parramatta North adjacent to the Westmead hospitals, and a process for ongoing engagement once land for the proposed campus becomes available for development.
“It was a pleasure advising the NSW Government as they make the next in a series of steps aimed at encouraging investment and driving job growth in our cities. In the context of COVID-19, the adoption of a flexible framework structure which allows the parties to develop and implement a shared vision over the coming years makes a lot of sense,” Mr Carney said.
“Our recent Future Cities’ Report identified a high degree of optimism about current and future development and infrastructure projects in Australian cities, with 86 percent of respondents more optimistic about their projects than pre-COVID-19. The agreement with University of Sydney in relation to the Westmead Health and Innovation District supports this optimism.”
Pending final agreement around the size and timings of the campus development, the university hopes to attract more than 25,000 students and 2,500 staff by 2055 and provide affordable student and staff accommodation.
