Ford's well-known Broadmeadows manufacturing facility in Melbourne is slated to host a new data centre nearly ten years after the company concluded more than nine decades of vehicle production in Australia.

The Urban Developer reports that the location at 300-340 Barry Road in Campbellfield will be redeveloped by Singapore-based Zerra DC.

A planning permit submitted by Zerra to the Victorian government outlines a six-building data centre campus on the historic grounds, complete with office facilities.

Ford Australia began operations in Geelong in 1925 and launched the Broadmeadows plant in August 1959, introducing the first locally produced Falcon, known as the XK, to the market the next year.

At its height, more than 5000 employees produced over 600 vehicles daily, building every Falcon generation up to the final FG X model, along with the Falcon-based Territory SUV and extended-wheelbase Fairlane and LTD variants.

The site also manufactured the Cortina and served as the origin for an unsuccessful export initiative involving the Ford Capri convertible, a Mazda MX-5 competitor that used underpinnings from the Mazda 323-based Ford Laser.

The last car, a Kinetic Blue FG X Falcon XR6 sedan, left the Broadmeadows line on October 7, 2016.

Ford Australia relocated its headquarters to Richmond in Melbourne that same year and transferred ownership of the Broadmeadows plant to the Pelligra Group in 2019.

Nevertheless, the company maintains operations in sections of the original 45-hectare property, including its heritage-listed structure at 1735 Sydney Road, which functions as Ford's Asia Pacific Product Development Centre.

Design and engineering teams remain active there, and special projects such as the 2019 Ford Mustang R-Spec and the 2026 Ford Mustang Dark Horse T8-Spec pack were developed on site.

The facility also served as the lead development centre for the current Ford Ranger ute and the related Ford Everest SUV, working alongside the engineering and test site at the You Yangs Proving Ground in Lara near Geelong.

Although the data centre project awaits approval, the Broadmeadows plant appears destined for a similar transformation as the former Holden Special Vehicles headquarters, which was demolished in 2025 to make way for a data centre.

The old HSV location on Centre Road in Clayton, southeast Melbourne, began operations in 1954 producing Volkswagen Beetles.

Prior to HSV's brand closure in 2020 and the site's demolition last year, the property also hosted manufacturing for Datsun, the earlier name of Nissan's passenger car division, and Volvo.

During its time as HSV headquarters, the site supported the Holden Racing Team, home to legendary drivers including Peter Brock, Craig Lowndes, and Mark Skaife.