City of Perth Reject Plans for Far East’s $160m 'Perth Hub'

Far East Consortium's $160 million "Perth Hub" plans for two mixed-use towers has been rebuffed by the the City of Perth with recommended design changes now resting with the Metropolitan Redevelopment Authority.

The proposed development, comprising a 23-storey hotel and 304-apartments across 32-storeys was to be part of the Perth City Link, designed to reconnect Perth's CBD with Northbridge.

The Hong Kong-listed firm lodged planning applications with the City of Perth in February, subject to review by the Metropolitan Redevelopment Authority’s design panel.

It now seems that the 270-room Dorsett Hotel and 304-room apartment tower put forward for 600 Wellington Street will not go ahead until a list of changes are made to FEC's planning application.

The main cause for the refusal centred around parking and servicing, access arrangements, ground floor activation, building height and podium design concerns.

The City of Perth, who are acting as the referral agency, will now have its recommendations reviewed by the MRA.

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The proposed towers far exceed the recommended building heights set out by the MRA, with existing developments within the Perth City Link currently reaching a maximum 23-storeys.

In recommending that the MRA refuse the project, the City of Perth outlined its concern in regard to the towers' ground floor activation and added that the hotel's vehicle access arrangement is "inadequate and unsafe".

“We are disappointed at the current outcome of our application and are hopeful of an approval in the near future,” FEC's manager of Western Australia Dan Sweet told The Urban Developer.

Sweet added that Far East was surprised that height was an issue in the City of Perth's recommended refusal to MRA, as the developer had conducted a series of pre-lodgement meetings with council.

Far East now expects the next phase of the application to move to a tribunal now that the development application window has expired.

Far East has been operating in Australia since the mid-1990s and notably built the Rockmans Regency Towers, then the largest downtown development in Australia and the first high-rise in Melbourne.

Far East are currently building the Ritz-Carlton hotel and The Towers apartments at Elizabeth Quay.