Revival for $140m Burswood office tower
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A state development panel has made a 180-degree turn to approve a $140 million office tower proposal in Burswood that had been knocked back multiple times.
The Metro Inner-South Joint Development Panel unanimously approved the proposed 18-storey building, with a three-storey podium, at the corner of Burswood Road and Kitchener Way in Burswood, at its meeting this morning.
The proposed development includes a cafe, childcare premises, and a 304-bay car park.
All JDAP members declined the 18-storey proposal in July last year, despite the height already reduced from the original 25 storeys with a five-storey podium.
A revised application was lodged by town planning firm element, on behalf of landowners of 176 Burswood Parade, in January.
Design changes from the July proposal focused on the form of the podium, including having office spaces instead of end-of-trip facilities at the podium level and changing the colour from green to a muted pallette.
Element associate Renee Young said significant design changes in the current proposal had been influenced by the Town of Victoria Park’s Design Review Panel (DRP).
“We’ve been through mediation process and engaged with the town’s DRP on another two occasions,” she said.
“We’ve taken that feedback and relodged that application for reconsideration.”
JDAP deputy presiding member Rachel Chapman said the updated proposal still exceeded the height in the town's local planning policy but had been revised within a suitable context.
A plan for a 25-storey building was initially lodged in December 2020 before it was amended to a $165 million, 22-storey office tower with a five-storey podium and a 443-bay car park in 2021.
JDAP members refused the 2021 proposal as the proposed height exceeded the local planning limit of 12 storeys, and the development’s bulk and scale being inconsistent with the locality.
After making modifications to the proposal, the State Administration Tribunal ordered the JDAP to reconsider the revised application but the panel still rejected it at its meeting in July.
Victoria Park councillor and JDAP member Vicki Potter said it had been a long and difficult time.
“Thank you for sticking through that, the outcome is so much better,” she said at today’s meeting.
Landowners of the development site are listed as Dianne Jeanette Solomons, Julius Victor Solomons and Mark Solomons via State City Investments.