Centennial’s Paul Ford: From Vision to Industrial Vanguard

When Paul Ford set out to build Centennial’s industrial and logistics platform in 2018, the market was already running hot.

But instead of chasing mega-warehouses on the urban fringe, Ford zeroed in on a space many institutional players were overlooking—metro infill and last-mile industrial assets.

It was a contrarian move. Land in urban corridors was scarce, expensive and increasingly under threat from residential encroachment.

Ford recognised the structural shifts in consumer behaviour and supply chains that would turbocharge demand for well-located, mid-scale logistics hubs.

Today, that call has transformed Centennial into a national industrial heavyweight with more than $2.4 billion in assets under management across industrial, commercial, retail, residential and social infrastructure.

Its metro industrial and logistics platform is now one of the most agile strategies in the market, tapping into tenant demand, rental growth and repositioning upside in locations where speed of delivery is crucial.

Platform built on contrarian thinking

Ford’s track record for scaling platforms is unmatched. At Charter Hall, he launched and grew the group’s Industrial and Logistics arm into Australia’s second-largest portfolio.

At Centennial, he has doubled down on a strategy that prizes smarter, tenant-led investment over scale for scale’s sake.

Centennial’s portfolio spans Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne and Adelaide, with assets ranging from 1000 to 10,000sq m facilities through to major logistics hubs exceeding 120,000 square metres. The focus remains the same: urban infill corridors where supply is constrained and demand from occupiers is rising fast.

The returns have followed. Infill markets have outpaced broader industrial performance, recording rental growth above 16 per cent annually, compared to about 9 per cent in non-infill markets.

Centennial’s ability to buy underperforming or mispriced assets and reposition them through active management has been central to capturing that upside.

The Summit spotlight

Ford will headline a fireside chat at The Urban Developer’s Industrial and Logistics Summit in Sydney on Thursday, October 16 2025, where he will chart Centennial’s journey from a single thesis to a national platform and share what’s next for last-mile logistics and value-add strategies.

He will be joined by more than 10 sector experts and leaders for the one-day summit that will unpack the opportunities and challenges in Australia’s evolving industrial market.

Program at a glance:

• Australia’s Industrial Outlook – rents, land values, vacancy, supply and investor sentiment

• Capital Flows and Partnerships – offshore appetite, joint ventures and domestic strategies

• Unlocking Land and Planning Pathways – tackling scarcity, rezoning and delivery at scale

• Smarter Development and Delivery – modular builds, automation and occupier-led design

• Centennial Study – Paul Ford on scaling to a national platform and what’s next for last-mile and value-add.
  
  

Event details

The Urban Developer Industrial and Logistics Summit
Thursday, October 16 2025
Establishment Ballroom, Sydney
8.30am—3.30pm AEDT

• 150-plus C-suite professionals in attendance

• 7-plus sessions with insights from leading developers, investors, analysts and advisors

• 15-plus speakers, including Paul Ford, Annabel McFarlane (JLL), Trevor Lee (Stockland), Owen Smith (Salta) among many others

• Networking opportunities over barista coffee, morning tea, lunch and post-event drinks.

Tickets:

• TUD+ Member: $370 + GST

• Non-Member: $495 + GST

Click here to learn more and register.