Developers Hesperia and Birchmead Property Group received approval to build a $75 million office development near two hospitals in Murdoch.
Developers Hesperia and Birchmead Property Group received approval to build a $75 million office development near two hospitals in Murdoch.
The Metro Inner South Joint Development Assessment Panel has approved the proposal to build an eight-storey building on a 3,438 square metre of vacant land in the 9.6 hectare Murdoch Health and Knowledge Precinct at its meeting today.
The development comprising five floors of office, two floors of above ground parking, basement parking level, ground floor retail, gym and café, and a rooftop plant and podium terrace has been approved for a site between St John of God Murdoch and Fiona Stanley hospitals.
The application was submitted by Lateral Planning with designs by Hassell.
In 2020, the state government announced Hesperia and Birchmead Property Group had acquired the subject lot and would partner to deliver a new residential and commercial project.
The site is jointly owned by the state of Western Australia and MHKP 118 Asset.
Initial designs for the site featured a 10-storey development comprising 120 apartments and commercial opportunities.
The City of Melville supported the proposal with its planning services coordinator Mark Scarfone saying despite the applicant returning to the drawing board a couple of times, the final design was approved by the design review panel.
“The design that has been proposed is considered to have met all those objectives … composition of the building and materials used are supported by the design review panel,” he said at the meeting.
“There is another application with the State Development Assessment Unit for the adjacent site, which is looking to open up the vehicle access way through the St John of God site.
“There is quite a lot of interest, development pressure occurring in the area that needs to be looked at.”
The JDAP members approved the application 4-1, with city councillor Clive Ross the only member against due to the sloping design of the building’s driveway affecting pedestrian and cyclists’ path.
“It's an inherent design problem, it’s not something that can be fixed by the conditions,” he said.
Potential traffic issues were flagged and traffic management plans are to be submitted to the city before the applicant can lodge a building application.
Some of the other conditions include a minimum of 40 onsite parking spaces for visitors to be made available from the first day of operation and choosing anti-graffiti agent or material for the ground floor.
The application said Hesperia had secured a commercial tenant for the ground.
"The tenant will bring a large working population into the northern end of the Murdoch Health and Knowledge Precinct, with the proposal representing the first development within the northern precinct," it said.
The three surrounding development sites in the precinct are yet to be developed.
Construction on the state’s first medihotel, an 80-bed facility, has started as part of stage 1A of the Murdoch Health and Knowledge Precinct project.
Plans for stage 1A works include an aged care facility, super medical clinic, and residential dwellings in a development featuring commercial, retail, food and beverage spaces.
The medihotel is expected to be completed by mid-2023.
