Transforming a large area of North Shore bushland, Macquarie Park began its rapid development in the early 2000s and established itself as an innovation hub. The precinct offered compelling advantages like modern facilities, large floorplates, abundant parking and competitive rents. It also offers unique opportunities for businesses to locate their office operations alongside R&D facilities and laboratories.

Major infrastructure developments including the M2 Motorway (1997), Lane Cove Tunnel (2007) and North Shore rail extension (2009) improved accessibility and attracted multinational tech and pharmaceutical firms.

Driven by this increasing demand, office stock tripled from 136,000 to 407,000 sqm between 2000 and 2007, making it the fastest-growing of all 19 JLL-tracked office markets. Despite rapid supply growth, vacancy fell to 3.3% by 2007. This happened due to significant pre-commitments and was supported by smaller firms taking advantage of rare opportunities to co-locate with major multinationals. By 2014, the market exceeded 700,000 sqm, housing technology giants, pharmaceutical companies, and government agencies.

Today, Macquarie Park is navigating a new set of hurdles. The vacancy rates are at a historic high of 22.7%, a stark contrast to the 5.9% vacancy recorded in 2019. This shift is an impact of several key factors:

1. Changing work patterns

The widespread acceptance of hybrid working has created opportunities for to higher-grade, premium office spaces. The firms are reducing footprints and centralising in premium markets. High vacancy has elevated incentives across Sydney metro markets, minimising the rental impact of these moves.

2. Supply-demand imbalance

Strong pre-pandemic demand boosted development activity, with 93,000 sqm added over five years. This oversupply has exacerbated vacancy issues, and an additional 20,000 sqm expected through 2025 will intensify market pressures.

Figure 1: Macquarie Park market balance

_{Source: JLL Research, Q2 2025}

3. Public transport weakening competitive advantages

Enhanced transport connectivity has diminished Macquarie Park's traditional benefits. Sydney Metro extensions now connect surrounding suburbs such as Epping to North Sydney in 24 minutes, only four minutes longer than the morning commute from Epping to Macquarie Park. This makes previously inaccessible markets viable alternatives. Combined with growing ESG considerations, this has reshaped tenant preferences.