The City of Perth has approved plans by the Humich Group for a 18-storey tower in the heart of the CBD.
The $160-million plans by Hames Sharley will transform the site at 95-99 Barrack Street into a new arts and office hub.
The first two floors will incorporate existing heritage buildings on the site and host a revamped 400-seat Liberty Theatre with dressing rooms and AV suites.
The Perth International Jazz Festival has already been selected as the first event to celebrate the Liberty Theatre’s reopening.
The first two floors will also have a new gallery space for the Flex Gallery along with workshops and studios for artists and a new hall as well two new laneways: Conor and Quinlan.
There will also be retail on the first two floors with the remainder of the tower given over to office space with outdoor terraces and balconies.
There will be four basement levels for carparking accessible from Barrack Street.
Development in the city of Perth has increased in recent years with the development of Yagan Square, the Rydges Hotel brand returning to the city centre and Andrew Forrest buying the Carillion City Arcade site with plans to redevelop it. It neighbours the Humich Group’s Barrack Street project.
Forrest’s Carillion City Arcade project is expected to cost around $80 million including the cost of acquisition.
Forrest has also made moves to develop property in Western Australia’s south-west, to push ahead with redevelopment plans for the Indiana Teahouse in Cottlesloe, a hotel in Fremantle and to buy islands off Australia’s north-east coast.
Forrest’s company Fiveight also bought 190 St George’s Terrace in 2020 for $55 million.
