CONSTRUCTION giant BGC has won approval for an 11-storey tower in Osborne Park, which will be the area’s tallest building if completed as planned.
CONSTRUCTION giant BGC has won approval for an 11-storey tower in Osborne Park, which will be the area’s tallest building if completed as planned.
Stirling City Council last week approved the tower, which is planned for a cleared block at 3 Hasler Road, once home to Surf Life Saving WA.
The council has also been considering plans for a six-storey building proposed by Georgiou Group.
While Osborne Park is rapidly becoming a serious alternative to the CBD in terms of office construction, the biggest building in Stirling is actually the 16-storey Rendezvous Observation City hotel on the Scarborough beachfront.
The lower rental costs and easy access for residents of the northern suburbs make the area, including the Herdsman Business Park along Walters Drive, increasingly attractive for business that was priced out of the CBD in the previous boom conditions.
BGC’s architect John McKenzie confirmed the building plans – the highest proposed for the area since 2008 when engineering group VDM won approval for a 17-storey tower – as part of a bigger project which has since been put on hold.
VDM proposed a three-phase development with the tallest building going up first, followed by a 16-storey office tower and then a final stage to include the construction of two office towers – one up to 10 storeys and the other up to 15 storeys.
The office component of the BGC tower will be 8,000 square metres in six levels above five levels of parking, to meet city requirements for one parking bay per 30sqm of commercial space.
The building will have a small convenience store located on the ground floor.
It is not known how much, if any, of the building has pre-commitments from tenants. Leasing agent Andrew Denny from CB Richard Ellis is handling the account.
BGC has recognised demand in the area since completing another large office block in the area in early 2008, leasing two floors to headquarter John Holland’s WA operations and three floors to WA Health Department.
The 11-storey BGC tower is modest in comparison to VDM’s former plans, before the global financial crisis forced it to shelve its ambitious $400 million to $500 million technology park on Selby Street. VDM was last reported to be looking for new investors for the project but it is not believed to be on the agenda of the companys’ management team head by new recruit Ken Perry.
Georgiou is seeking to build a mixed-use development near the large format Ikea retail warehouse. It previously proposed to build its headquarters at the site.
