SPECIAL REPORT: A new high-rise precinct is evolving around Mount Pleasant and Applecross.
A new high-rise precinct is evolving around Mount Pleasant and Applecross.
Cranes have become a prominent feature of the Canning Bridge precinct, as favourable planning rules, proximity to the city and strong appetite from buyers combine to create opportunities for project delivery.
The convergence of developers on the near-city suburb is delivering on a vision unveiled in 2010, with the City of Melville seeking an increase of residential density by allowing development of up to 20 storeys, and more if certain community benefits are provided.
Those planning rules have attracted some of Perth’s biggest apartments players, who have proposed to build what would be the tallest buildings outside of the CBD.
One of the first to move on the riverside suburb was Stirling Capital, which recently delivered the first $90 million stage of its high-end Cirque apartments, designed by MJA Studio.
(click to view a PDF version of the full special report)
Construction is also under way at Finbar Group’s Sabina, a 50:50 joint venture with Monadelphous chairman John Rubino, which will deliver 164 apartments with an end value of $121 million in the project’s first stage.
Ultimately, Sabina will comprise three stages and up to 453 apartments, with one tower of 30 levels, and two others reaching 26 storeys.
Across the road, BGC is building The Precinct on Canning on behalf of Norup + Wilson, a $250 million, 22-level development designed by prominent architecture firm Woods Bagot.
The Precinct on Canning is Norup + Wilson’s second major project in the area, following the completion of its Precinct on Ogilvie in 2016.
Norup + Wilson is also planning a third development on nearby Kishorn Road, which is subject to mediation in the State Administrative Tribunal after the Metropolitan Central Joint Development Assessment Panel ruled that its amenity did not provide a sufficient community benefit to allow the developer to build up to 16 storeys, six higher than the height limits prescribed for the plot.
Director John Norup said the Canning Bridge area was one of Perth’s most exciting development neighbourhoods.
“It’s an affluent suburb, the demographic is right and I can jump in the car and in less than 10 minutes I’m in the city for a meeting,” Mr Norup told Business News.
“So it’s the perfect place.”
Mr Norup’s enthusiasm has not only been matched by that of Finbar, with other developers muscling in on the territory en masse.
The latest to join the fray is Baltinas, which recently began construction of its $19 million luxury development, Habitat Residences.
Baltinas founder Barry Baltinas said he’d been attracted by the fundamentals of the area, with the median unit price up 8.8 per cent over the past 12 months, tracking well above the metropolitan area average for the past decade.
ASX-listed developer Mustera Property Group is also a recent mover on the precinct, however, like Norup + Wilson, it is having to negotiate with planning authorities to get its project up and running.
Mustera had enlisted renowned international architecture group WOHA to create a striking design for its Forbes Residences, however, the Metropolitan Central JDAP rejected the 20-level, $105 million proposal in March.
Mustera took its case to the SAT, which after mediation requested the JDAP reconsider the application, which had been recommended for approval by City of Melville planning officers.
Earlier this month the proposal was again knocked back by the JDAP, with Mustera taking the project back to SAT later this month to determine its path forward.
