PROPERTY player Lend Lease is aiming to submit a development application for the first stage of the $1 billion Waterbank project this year, which will transform the eastern part of the Perth CBD.
Lend Lease’s Waterbank project director Tim Urquhart said the ‘go button’ had officially been pressed since the signing of a binding Project Development Agreement with the Metropolitan Redevelopment Authority nearly a fortnight ago.
The agreement marks a milestone for the long-term project that forms the centrepiece of the $2.6 billion Riverside development.
Mr Urquhart told WA Business News Lend Lease would now look into which parts of Waterbank it would deliver first.
“Prior to designing the first building and submitting planning applications, we need to refine the masterplan and in parallel look in detail at the options for the initial stage of development. This will be crucial to create a vibrant and diverse place for people to live, work and play from the start,” Mr Urquhart said.
“We anticipate submitting the first planning application later this year.”
Waterbank will include a mix of more than 600 apartments, offices, restaurants, shopping areas and a hotel.
One of the key conditions of the PDA is that Lend Lease will need to deliver the majority of the public space as part of the first stage. The public realm includes a natural beach, public promenades, a large wetland area, and a direct connection from Hay Street to the Swan River with a new pier.
“We want to ensure that, when the first building is occupied, you have a finished ground plan with a substantial component of the social infrastructure in place so that you’re creating a destination people want to come and be part of, as successfully creating place and a sustainable environment will assist to bring further stages on,” Mr Urquhart said.
“It’s your best asset in this project.”
He said Lend Lease would start looking for potential partners to help deliver the project, both from capital and development sides.
“Certainly from a commercial side we are looking for third party capital investment for the project. It could be on an exclusive basis or in partnership with us, and we are formulating our capital strategy on this,” Mr Urquhart said, adding the strategy was more to do with office and hotel space.
Construction at Waterbank will start late next year with the first building to be delivered in 2017. Completion of the project is planned for 2021.