Tech Central Sydney’s First Tenants Poised to Take Up Tenure

Sydney-based start-up Q-Ctrl, the Sydney Quantum Academy and Canberra-based Quantum Brilliance will be the first companies to move into the NSW government’s multi-billion-dollar Tech Central precinct next to Sydney’s Central Station.

The three organisations will move into the Quantum Terminal, the city’s first centralised live collaboration space for researchers, developers, engineers and entrepreneurs working to advance quantum computing.

The Tech Central development at Central Station, near Surry Hills, will have about 250,000sq m of space for tech start-ups who will be able to access rent subsidies from the state government.

NSW premier Dominic Perrottet said the tenancies represented the first of up to 25,000 new jobs the proposed Tech Central precinct would be able to accommodate.

“With first-class researchers and entrepreneurs eager to collaborate, and an innovation precinct ready to support jobs growth, NSW is in pole position to become a global leader in technology,” Perrottet said.

Q-Ctrl gained attention earlier this year after publishing new methods for reducing errors in the quantum computing process caused by environmental “noise”—the biggest challenge in the field and something that has until now stymied scalability and growth.

Quantum Brilliance, spun out of the Australian National University’s leading research group in diamond quantum science in 2019, harnesses synthetic diamonds to build quantum accelerators.

It is reportedly one of only a few companies worldwide already delivering quantum computing systems for customers to operate on-site.

Meanwhile, the Sydney Quantum Academy is a partnership between four universities: Macquarie University, UNSW Sydney, the University of Sydney and University of Technology Sydney.

The state government has also signalled its intentions to invest up to $21 million to prioritise affordable accommodation for scale-ups.

From December, businesses will be able to apply for rebates on rental and fit-out costs of up to $600,000 a year through the Tech Central Scale-Up Accommodation Rebate.

Businesses will be able to apply the rebate towards acquiring and fitting out office space in the hub, at the centre of the 477 Pitt Street precinct.

The hub will be operated by technology community Stone and Chalk, providing 8000sq m of affordable and flexible workspace for high-growth technology scale-ups.

The broader innovation corridor is quickly taking shape after Atlassian was given the green light to move ahead with plans to build a $1-billion-plus timber tower in October.

Dexus will now develop the 39-storey mixed-use tower, at 8-10 Lee Street, which will become the tech company’s headquarters.

Dexus, alongside its partner Frasers Property Australia, also currently has plans before the City of Sydney for a long-awaited $2.5-billion commercial project at 24 Lee Street.

The joint proposal comprises 130,000sq m of A-grade space across two towers of 35 and 37 levels, and a podium building.

Others set to call Tech Central home include NEC and NTT. A national space industry hub and semiconductor hub are also set to be established and form part of Tech Central.