Perth CBD developments to create a vibrant city
Perth CBD developments will play a vital role in enhancing the city experience, bringing communities together and creating a vibrant city was, the key message at a recent Property Council industry lunch.
At the industry lunch, delegates previewed six development and construction plans currently completed and pipelined for our City.
This was the industry’s opportunity to get the latest news on major projects such as: Capital Square, WA Museum Precinct, Raine Square, Hibernian Place, and Elizabeth Quay.
Kicking off the lunch we heard from Ryan Keys, Executive Director of Planning at the Metropolitan Redevelopment Authority, discuss the opening of Perth’s newest development Yagan Square. This community place is “Weaving into the fabric of the CBD. Looking at the city you want interesting places with lots of different things to do. It will become a hub of activity offering something new to the city” he said. Over the past few weeks, Yagan Square has seen thousands of people enjoying the various cafes, restaurants, shopping and pop-ups every day.
Rob Bates-Smith, Development Manager, BGC Development, discussed Perth’s newest precinct Hibernian Place: The Westin Hotel. The five-star, 368 room hotel features Perth’s heritage-listed Hibernian Hall as the hotel’s signature restaurant ‘Garum’, headed up by renowned chef Guy Grossi. With a rooftop infinity pool, ballroom and a wellness spa, “Everything about the place is pointed at attracting external guests in the precinct,” Rob Bates-Smith said.
The key consideration when planning this precinct were local amenities. Guests want local attractions and to enjoy the culture of the city’s local residents, Rob Bates-Smith said. In order to approach activation and bring people in there needs to be diverse range of activities. “We got a lot of ideas from a wide range of stakeholders, such as Historic Heart” said Rob Bates-Smith.
The next project that was discussed was the Ritz Carlton: Elizabeth Quay development, presented by Dan Sweet, Manager, Far East Consortium. Twelve months out from completion, they are currently on level 10 with a design set to inspire the Perth Sunset. “A few of the apartments have already been sold averaging 1.5 million on sales,” Dan Sweet said.
Developers have put a lot of time and research into the design of this building, each apartment takes advantage of the panoramic views – offering water front living, premium luxury. “The towers set a new benchmark for Perth living” Dan Sweet said.
Emma Williams, Director, Cox presented the development Capital Square. This development is one of Perth’s most significant commercial projects currently underway. When creating large scale infrastructure projects, it is critical to create designs that will stand the test of time and help influence future growth and development of the area.” Emma said.
The idea of creating the square is to generate an environment where people want to come together and share ideas, to create dynamic work spaces. “A lot of meetings and conversations take place in cafes now, we as developers should be thinking about the needs and lifestyles of our communities into the future,” Emma Williams said.
Project attendees were then given as update on Raine Square. Miles Rowe, Regional Portfolio Manager- WA, said that Raine Square will deliver a conscience-based space, with a dining precinct linked to the public transport tunnel. Charter Hall hinted that they will be announcing an exciting retailer for the precinct soon.
“There is a lot of diversity of product on offer in Perth, and developers and owners are spending money to create a great city” Miles Rowe said. The Raine Square fashion precinct will bring international retailers to town and encourage more opportunities for Perth city retail.
Chris Palandri, Regional Managing Director of Multiplex, provided an update on the WA Museum precinct and how it will draw more tourism into WA. Design of the he precinct is complete, and has looked to integrate the new state of the art museum development with the already existing heritage buildings.
“There have been some challenges along the way as project looks to blend the old and the new, and we wanted to preserve the 300-year-old heritage buildings” Chris Palandri said. The building is not only uniquely and beautifully designed, but the project also looks to use innovative approaches to infrastructure delivery and reduce greenhouse emissions by 40% and cut energy costs through load sharing across the cultural precinct.