Approval for $174m CBD tower

GDI Property Group's first project in a plan to redevelop its Mill Green complex on St Georges Terrace has been ticked off by a development panel.

The City of Perth Local Development Assessment Panel unanimously approved GDI Property Group’s proposal to build a 21-storey office tower on a corner of St Georges Terrace and Mill Street in the CBD at its meeting today.

The proposed development, which has an estimated $174 million cost, will accommodate more than 30,000 square metres of office space, and 47 commercial tenant car parking bays on the Mill Street site, known as Mill Green.

Three commercial office buildings occupy the site: the former Governor Stirling Tower at 197 St Georges Terrace, an 11-storey building at 5 Mill Street, and a four-storey building at 1 Mill Street, which is where the proposed $174m building be integrated. 

GDI Property national head of development David Ockenden said the ambition was to revitalise a landmark Perth CBD asset.

“It’s a three-building site. It’s a single landholding,” he said.

“We do have lots of other plans in the future for the two other buildings, we are certainly looking at them in a timber concept.

“[But] we want to keep 1 Mill greenfenced and get it out of the way … and deal with the other two sites as time goes by.”

The proposed 1 Mill St building. Image: Woods Bagot via JDAP document

Mr Ockenden said the future projects on the site aimed to rejuvenate retail and other amenities for the city.

The project, designed by architecture firm Woods Bagot, would also reuse the existing four-storey office on the Mill Green site.

Woods Bagot principal Hazel Porter said the proposed 1 Mill Street project was designed to be part of the cityscape.

“As it turns to a corner, it needs to present itself as a vertical, relatively modest looking but impactful façade,” she said.

The DAP conditionally approved demolition of four existing buildings at 1 Mill Street to make way for a 32-level office in February 2021.

Despite the initial approval being valid until February 2025, the applicant advised the city that the development was unlikely to proceed due to current market conditions and prospective tenant requirements.

Today’s approval includes a condition for substantial commencement to start within four years.