Main street alternative

THE development of so-called "main street" or strip shopping centres around the city has created another viable retail category outside of the traditional suburban and CBD shopping centres.

Areas including Rokeby Road Subiaco, Bay View Terrace Claremont, South Terrace and Market Street Fremantle and King Street in the city are among Perth's prime strip shopping locations, as a growing number of retailers and other businesses are drawn to vibrant community centres.

Burgess Rawson retail leasing senior consultant Nick Takacs, who specialises in main street leasing, said in addition to the prime locations, he has monitored and measured street shopping activity in about 20 other main streets in the Perth metro area.

These include emerging streets such as Ardross Street, Applecross and mid-sized streets such as Napoleon Street, Cottesloe.

"In our mapping of retail demand in town centres across Perth, we note that they are predominantly clustered around the western suburbs, for example Claremont, Subiaco, Cottesloe, and inner north, Leederville and Mount Lawley, with some dotted around the suburbs on the southern boundary of the river," Mr Takacs said.

"This is partly due to physical presence, as the way the northern and southern suburbs of Perth were developed means that there aren't too many street shopping destinations in those locations today.

"The main streets we are dealing with are long-established town centres which live on today carrying out their intended function as community focal points."

And along with that growing popularity and an increase in the quality of tenants, has come rising rents.

Subiaco, for example, has experienced an almost doubling in rents in the past three years, with rents for some locations on Rokeby Road hitting up to $1,100 a square metre.

Among the other prime strip locations, such as Claremont, rents in Bayview Terrace are around the $1,800/sqm mark and slightly less on St Quentin Ave at around $1,200-$1,500/sq m.

Mr Takacs believes there are a number of opportunities to get more incubator businesses up and running.

He believes local legislation could foster incubator businesses, such as local boutiques as well as food and beverage businesses, by enabling the leasing of currently under-activated areas such as laneways, first floors and rear entries for those business willing to try.

"These areas are the next opportunity of affordable rents where future creative capital can be incubated.

"We receive alot of demand from potential tenants wishing to create business environments in under-activated parts of established buildings. We also receive a lot of feedback from people who have visited activated laneways, basements and first floors who seek the same in their community."