Goodman Group has withdrawn its development application for Project Mars, a planned 90MW data center campus in the Lane Cove area of Sydney, New South Wales, after commencing the planning process in March 2025. The company had intended to invest AU$1.2 billion ($725 million) in two two-story buildings totaling 18,830 square meters at 12 Mars Road. Goodman cited significant evolution in the policy and regulatory environment for large-scale data center development, as well as feedback from the local planning process and community views. The company still has several other Sydney data center projects in various stages, including a 90MW redevelopment of the former ABC television studios, a 126MW facility in Guildford West, a 135MW project in Macquarie Park, and a planned 90MW facility on a former Eaton warehouse site in Mascot.
The withdrawal of a AU$1.2 billion project because of evolving state and federal policy signals that regulatory risk is becoming a real constraint on large-scale data center development in Australia, not just a procedural hurdle. The decision is significant given Goodman's scale in the Sydney market; its remaining pipeline of four other Sydney projects means the outcome of those approvals will test whether the policy changes are broadly restrictive or site-specific.
A major industrial property developer withdrawing a 90MW campus application in Sydney signals permitting friction in the Australian market and is a notable setback for regional data center supply. The named capacity figure and specific location make this concrete and newsworthy.