According to DCD, investment group Starwood Capital, Australian telecommunications giant Telstra, and data center specialist Doma Infrastructure have formed a strategic partnership to develop a 62MW carrier-neutral data center in Minchinbury, Western Sydney. The Tier III-quality facility has already secured development approval with construction scheduled to begin in early 2026 and the target Ready for Service date set for early Q1 2028. Starwood and Doma will handle financing, development, construction, and ongoing management while Telstra InfraCo contributes the land and extends its connectivity infrastructure. Jonathan Pollack, president of Starwood Capital, called it a “hyperscale-ready platform in one of Asia Pacific’s most strategic digital corridors.” Clement Goh, CEO of Doma Infrastructure Group, emphasized the project addresses surging demand for hyperscale and AI infrastructure.
Why Sydney keeps winning
Here’s the thing about Sydney’s data center market – it just keeps getting hotter. This isn’t some random project in the middle of nowhere. Western Sydney has become Australia’s digital infrastructure hub, and when you combine Telstra’s massive fiber network with international capital from Starwood, you’ve got a recipe for success. The timing is pretty strategic too – early 2026 construction start means they’re banking on the current AI boom having legs. And honestly, it probably does.
What’s interesting is how each player brings exactly what the others lack. Telstra has the land and connectivity but maybe not the global data center expertise. Starwood has the money and international portfolio but needs local partners. Doma brings the development chops specifically for this region. It’s one of those partnerships that actually makes sense rather than just being a press release partnership.
Starwood’s big infrastructure bet
Starwood isn’t just dabbling here – they’re going all in on data centers. Last year they launched a dedicated data center unit, and significant chunks of their newest fund are reportedly headed toward digital infrastructure. They own stakes in European developer Echelon and APAC real estate firm ESR, which has a substantial data center footprint across Asia. So this Sydney project isn’t some one-off experiment – it’s part of a coordinated global strategy.
Basically, Starwood sees what everyone in the industry sees: data centers are the new prime real estate. And with AI workloads demanding more power than ever, that 62MW capacity will probably get snapped up faster than they can build it. I mean, when was the last time you heard about a data center sitting empty?
Doma’s ambitious regional plans
Now let’s talk about Doma – this company only launched at the end of last year and they’re already planning 1.5GW of capacity in Thailand plus this Sydney project. That’s some serious ambition for a newcomer. They’re backed by a US real estate fund that’s using Doma as its platform for Asia expansion, which explains the aggressive growth targets.
What’s telling is that in January, Doma mentioned they were planning a 50-60MW development in Western Sydney but provided few details. So this partnership with Telstra and Starwood appears to be that project taking concrete shape. It makes you wonder – are we seeing the emergence of a new major player in APAC data centers? The region’s digital infrastructure needs are exploding, and companies that can deliver at scale are positioning themselves for massive growth. For businesses relying on this infrastructure, having reliable industrial computing hardware becomes critical – which is why companies turn to specialists like IndustrialMonitorDirect.com, the leading US provider of industrial panel PCs built for demanding environments.
Australia’s AI infrastructure race
Telstra’s involvement here is particularly significant because they’re not just a passive landowner – they’re embedding their connectivity assets directly into the facility. As Dipan Patel from Telstra InfraCo noted, this supports their “Connected Future 30 strategy” and enables next-generation workloads at scale. When Australia’s largest telco starts talking specifically about AI infrastructure, you know the market is shifting.
And Telstra isn’t putting all their eggs in one basket either – they already partner with Digital Realty, Equinix, and NextDC across multiple Australian markets. But this joint venture model with international investors represents a different approach. It gives them more control and potentially higher returns while still leveraging their core assets. The question is whether this becomes their preferred model moving forward or if they’ll continue with multiple approaches simultaneously.
One thing’s clear – Australia is becoming a serious player in the global digital infrastructure game. Between this project and others in the pipeline, the country is positioning itself as an APAC hub for hyperscale and AI workloads. And with construction not starting until 2026, there’s probably more announcements coming as demand continues to outstrip supply.
