NOT-FOR-PROFIT organisation, Activ Foundation, has begun its search for new headquarters to house its central administration operations.
The organisation, which has 90 staff, is currently located in a 2,200 square metre office building in Jolimont.
Activ Foundation provides support services for people with intellectual disabilities and their families. The organisation is considering a number of options, including design and construct accomodation, leasing or purchasing an existing building, or conducting an extensive refurbishment on its existing Jolimont building.
Activ Foundation executive director John Groves said the organisation was currently conducting a feasibility study on a future relocation.
“As not-for-profit organisation it is essential to have a good understanding of the property market and a good understanding of what is available in it,” he said.
Mr Groves said the group’s current location was on leasehold land from the City of Subiaco, with Activ holding the equity in the built infrastructure.
There are 53 years to run on the lease of the land. The organisation is looking for available properties or land in a central Perth location.
Mr Groves said Activ was aware that it needed to be accessible to the public, clients and its funding bodies.
“We certainly haven’t gone to the outer metropolitan areas,” he said.
The decision to relocate the central administration was driven by planned government reforms that would change the structure of the community service industry.
Mr Groves said the change from block grant funding to case-based funding would cause community service providers to move from a protected provider model to that of competitive supplier of community services.
This would result in providers such as Activ searching for a more efficient way of providing community service, he said.
“Over the next two to three years as an organisation we are going to go through metamorphosis,” Mr Groves said.
