LARGE RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT AT BURT STREET

 

There is finally some movement on the long awaited development at Fremantle’s Burt Street, just up from the Fremantle Arts Centre.

The State Government has partnered with Edge Visionary Living in the $ 129 million project to build 265 residential apartments, some commercial spaces and six live-work artist’s studios.

There will be mainly two-bedroom or smaller apartments, with some premium three-bedroom ones, and some ‘compact studios’.

10-15 per cent of the apartments will be reserved for social housing.

The development will include six unique live-work artist rental studios and a maker space to inspire creative pursuits and help emerging artists to access affordable accommodation and workspace within the Fremantle area.

Local community input will inform the creation of amenities to complement the surrounding area including social gathering areas, active play zones, outdoor arts engagement, green spaces, walking and cycling pathways and a small portion of space for commercial uses.

The project will also explore ways to implement sustainable initiatives that can help reduce waste, and also reduce water and energy use.

The 1.4-hectare site will be developed in stages. Following a period of community consultation and development approvals, the first stage of works is expected to start in October 2021.

Roel Loopers

LIVING SOCIAL IN FREO’S WEST END

 

 

I noticed when walking past that there are still a few apartments for sale at the SOCIAL in Henry Street.

Living in Fremantle’s historic West End must be very special, so if you are in the market check it out!

Roel Loopers

FREO BARBER KENNEDY ON THE MOVE

 

It is disappointing to hear that the landlord of barber Peter Kennedy, who has been running the cute little barbershop between Alma Street and Wray Avenue on South Terrace for decades, has refused to renew the lease of the successful hairdresser.

Peter Kennedy is now forced to move to other premises, after he built up and improved the business so well, from just a one man operation to one where he often had three barbers in the shop.

The good news is that Peter Kennedy Barber will remain in Fremantle and become even more central, as he will be moving into the former Wrightsons shop in William Street, straight opposite the Townhall and next to Parlapa cafe.

Pete is a real top bloke, so support him and get your hair cut when he moves business. He is still operating at South Terrace for a short while.

Roel Loopers

MORE FREMANTLE RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT

 

The demolition of the former Fremantle Spotlight building at the Westgate Mall on Adelaide Street is well under way. It is making way for the eight-storey residential Little Lane development by our local Yolk Property Group.

Roel Loopers

WA SUPPORT FOR TENANTS AND LANDLORDS

 

 

This is not a pause on rent over this period. If a tenant can’t pay their rent, they will still have to pay it later.

But the measures to help landlords and tenants through these challenging and uncertain times include:

1. A moratorium on eviction for six months. There will be exceptions in limited circumstances.

2. A ban on rent increases during the State of Emergency period.

3. Providing that any fixed term tenancy agreement due to expire during the State of Emergency period will continue as a periodic agreement.

4. Relieving lessors of the obligation to conduct ordinary repairs if the reason they cannot do so is COVID-19 related financial hardship or a lawful restriction on movement.

5. Enabling a tenant to end a fixed term tenancy prior to its end date without incurring break lease fees. Tenants will still be liable for damage and rent arrears.

The laws will apply equally to tenants in public and private housing, park homes as well as boarders and lodgers.

We are all in this together, and I urge landlords and tenants to talk to each other and work out a way forward.

For more information visit the Consumer Protection website: https://www.commerce.wa.gov.au/…/covid-19-coronavirus-consu…

CONSIDERATE PROPERTY OWNERS AHEAD OF THE GAME

 

It is good to read in the POST community paper that landlords in the western suburbs are a lot more considerate than the owner of the property leased to the Fremantle Chart&Map Shop in Collie Street, who were evicted.

The POST reports that FJM Properties, which owns dozens of properties in Claremont, Subiaco and West Leederville will not charge any rent to tenants who have closed their shops, and once they re-open there won’t be any back rent to be paid either.

That is the kind of community spirit we are also asking Fremantle property owners to engage in. Bars, restaurants, and pubs were all forced to close, because of the Covid-19 restrictions, and cafes are only allowed to sell take-away.

People have been asked to stay at home and only leave for essential food shopping, so many retailers also had to close because there are no shoppers around.

Property owners need to ask themselves if it is better to have vacant shops once the coronavirus is contained, or if they’d rather have good tenants in there who will be paying rent again. It seems a no-brainer to me.

Roel Loopers

LITTLE LANE A BIG IMPROVEMENT

 

 

The LITTLE LANE development by the Yolk property group in Adelaide Street is reaching its next stage with the external demolition of the former Spotlight building starting today.

The eight-storey residential building will have a food court at ground level in the Westgate Mall, and it will make a huge positive difference to that run down part of Fremantle.

On Wednesday Fremantle Council will decide on the development application by Silverleaf Investments for a hotel at the Woolstores shopping centre site, which will need JDAP approval.

Good things are still happening in Fremantle, we’ll just have to get past that bloody Covid-19 pandemic period and all together rebuilt Fremantle’s hospitality industry and all those affected by the restrictions the virus has enforced upon us.

Stay well!

 

Roel Loopers

FREO HERITAGE PROPERTY FOR SALE

 

 

Another beautiful Fremantle heritage building is for sale. The in 1890 built ‘Atlas Chambers’ at 6-8 Cliff Street in the historic West End is on the market.

Roel Loopers

LITTLE LANE SIGNIFICANT DEVELOPMENT FOR FREMANTLE

 

 

I am delighted to hear that work has commenced on Yolk Property Group’s Little Lane apartments at 52 Adelaide Street in Fremantle, with demolition of the iconic site now underway.

I believe it is essential that the run down east of the CBD will be modernised and with the Woolstores hotel development and Hilton Doubletree hotel development in the pipeline and the Kings Square redevelopment nearing completion, the modernisation of the Fremantle CBD is well under way

The Little Lane building was home in the 1960s and 1970s to the Coles department store and in more recent times Many 2.0.

Little Lane will feature 70 apartments above a laneway alive with a new mix of cafe and foodie culture.

One of Australia and New Zealand’s largest construction providers Icon / Cockram has been appointed to build Little Lane. The apartments were designed by Fremantle based Harris Jenkins Architects

Affordable through a mix of dwelling sizes, the one, two and three-bedroom residences start from $359,000.

With extensive use of rooftop solar panels and a guarantee from an independent energy supplier, residents will be rewarded with a discounted rate of 10 per cent less than Synergy’s A1 Home

With demolition works scheduled to take three months, construction is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2021.

 

For further information visit http://www.littlelane.com.au.

Roel Loopers

WE DON’T BUILD COMMUNITIES. WE BUILD PLACES OF ISOLATION

 

There was an interesting panel discussion NO FIXED ADDRESS, to discuss the importance of social housing and building diversity in our urban centres, in the lovely courtyard of DADAA in Fremantle’s Princes May Park, last night with Dr. Mariana Atkins, Research Associate Professor, The Centre for Social Impact, University of Western Australia and the UWA Living Lab, Dr Holly Farley, Research Fellow, Fremantle School of Architecture, The University of Notre Dame Australia, Dr. Shane Greive, Urban and Regional Planning, School of Design and Built Environment, Curtin University, Michael Piu (CEO, St Patrick’s Community Support Centre), and  Heather Thompson (Senior Assertive Outreach Worker, 20 Lives 20 Homes Program, St Patrick’s Community Support Centre).  It was facilitated by Lisette Kaleveld, Senior Consultant, The Centre for Social Impact, University of Western Australia.

Changing cityscapes are inevitable with urban infill making places such as Fremantle desirable, especially since most of the services are provided in town, and that attracts a diversity of people, including homeless ones, and those who require social and affordable housing, but we are not designing and building for that diversity and the needs of individuals. Not many local governments have the capacity and desire to change with the times, so how do you design a city for all?

People want to be connected, be in contact with nature and there is a real disconnect there, so we need to bring the community on board because it is about the collective, not individuals. To do that we need to start understanding the history of Australia and the values, and where we want to go. We need to understand the diverse perspective, and need to learn to understand the different realities. Design should not be about excluding people!

Homelessness is nothing new and has been around for decades, so the whole community needs to own the issues and solutions, but there is a lack of value judgement. It is a fallacy that homeless people are in control of their own future! We all are only a few steps away from homelessness and if we come together the solutions are in our own hands. Start a conversation and humanise the issue!

A social worker said she had met some of the most amazing, caring and resilient people one would like to meet.

Architects and developers need to start actively listen to everybody’s stories from a design perspective. Bring the focus of development back to the people! We need a change of mindset there, as the next generation of home buyers can’t afford to buy the homes of the present generation. Inter-generational housing is not available, the housing options are not there.

There is huge value in diversity in a community, and we don’t want people with similar social/financial issues all living together, there needs to be a mix and we need to understand what home means for different people. Public housing often results in people failing because of the wrong set up and location and the lack of support. For some community housing or a boarding house is better because they don’t have to look after paying bills and connect with others. Community housing is more flexible.

There is also an interesting small exhibition in the DADAA gallery, so go and have a look at it!

COMMENT:

We don’t build communities, we build spaces where people are alone, spaces of loneliness, because at the lower end of the apartment market there are no community spaces where people can connect. There are no swimming pools, gyms, roof gardens, etc. We build highrise along transit corridors, instead of building them around green open spaces where people can meet and play.

There are tens of thousands of single middle aged and older women and men who have no social life because they can no longer afford to go to pubs, concerts, festivals, theatres, etc. where they used to connect with friends and meet new people. They don’t meet anyone and get isolated. High density living does not cater for that by providing community spaces. Many single people live in a small box with no communical spaces where they can meet their neighbours and make new friends that way.

Roel Loopers