Private group wins $140m QEII contract

A private consortium backed by Lend Lease and Probuild has won the right to design, build and operate a $140 million multi-storey car park at the QEII Medical Centre under a public private partnership.

The 3,000-plus bay carpark will increase the total parking capacity at QEII to 5,100, and will be built under a Build Own Operate and Transfer (BOOT) public private partnership model.

Under the BOOT model, design, construction and operation of the facility will be fully financed by the Capella Parking consortium, and the asset will be transferred back to the QEII Medical Centre Trust at the conclusion of the long-term contract.

The project is believed to be worth about $140 million for the construction phase.

The Capella Parking consortium comprises Capella Capital as the sponsor and asset manager, Probuild as the builder, and Ezipark as the car park operator.

Capella Capital is a partnership between Lend Lease and a team of senior industry executives with a substantial track record in the infrastructure sector, and represents the Australian arm of the global development giant's PPP business.

Treasurer Christian Porter said the consortium was selected from a field of competitive respondents to the tender.

Three consortia were short-listed for the project, combining financiers, car park operators and construction companies.

Investment group IPG, which owns the parking rights at nine major Australian public hospitals, partnered with Metro Parking Management and John Holland.

And Macquarie Bank subsidiary Sure Park teamed up with S&K Car Park Management and Brookfield Multiplex, which was recently awarded a separate contract to build a $180 million central energy plant at QEII.

"There was strong interest from a number of major construction firms, nation-wide car park operators, sponsors and financiers," Mr Porter said.

"After an extensive evaluation process, the state, with support from the trust, chose Capella as being best placed to deliver a facility that will address long-term parking demand on the expanding QEIIMC campus, meet the trust's design and operational objectives and offer excellent value for money."

Mr Porter said negotiations with Capella had commenced with a view to entering a formal contract arrangement later this year.

Car park fees will be finalised as part of that negotiation process, but both staff and visitor parking rates are expected to be in line with similar metropolitan hospitals.