Perth ‘Missing Middle’ Housing Project Approved

Locus Developments Group has been given the greenlight for a $38-million mixed-use project in the WA port suburb of Fremantle.

A Metro Inner Development Assessment Panel approved the development four months after the application was submitted—December, 2023. 

Locus can now proceed with its plans for the project, dubbed Monument East, comprising 57 townhouses in a mix of four, three and two bedrooms on a 1.4ha site.

Also approved is a four-storey building of 24 apartments as well as seven commercial tenancies intended for light industrial use.

According to its website, the Fremantle project delivers “missing middle” housing—medium-density housing for transitional neighbourhoods. 

Locus said the development would help to activate the formerly industrial area of Knutsford.

Eight lots were amalgamated into three via a separate subvision for the site, which is bounded by Amhert and Stack streets. 

The surrounding locality has a mix of two and three-storey industrial or commercial uses, and residential homes to the south of Stack Street. 

According to the Knutsford Street East Local Structure Plan, which the approved site is part of, the area has been historically industrial but is earmarked for more diverse growth.

Locus Development Group, founded in 2015, is based in the Perth suburb of Subiaco and has developed several “missing-middle” townhouse-style developments at Cottesloe and Stirling. 

There is also renewed interest in Fremantle with plans lodged this year by Fini Developments to renovate a 1920s building in the suburb, while the Walyalup Waterfront has enjoyed a renaissance after Gage Roads Brewing Co opened a major venue there in 2022.