Property

Perth’s city skyline reads like a who’s who of Western Australia as corporate heavyweights from banking, mining, finance, insurance and law pay thousands of dollars to get their name up in lights.

A new tax bill introduced into federal parliament last week has resulted in amendments to the GST treatment of residential premises and the definition of “residential premises” in the GST Act.

ING Australia’s Western Australian business, including its real estate division, will move St Georges Terrace locations from its prime Central Park premises to take up new offices in the Forrest Centre when its lease expires on August 1.

Continuing strong demand for office and retail space in the CBD and a lack of vacant land is straining relations between levels of government in Perth.

The Busselton Shire Council has released plans to expand and market Busselton Airport as a gateway to the South West for tourists and fly-in-fly-out workers.

Lake Street in Northbridge will get a major dose of Finbar-style urban renewal following the Perth developer’s successful tender for two lots released by the East Perth Redevelopment Authority in the Plateia Hellas precinct.

The state government has approved a joint venture proposal to develop a new 338-hectare town centre near Wanneroo.

The City of Fremantle plans to transform the port city by redeveloping the tired east end and revitalising Kings Square and the adjacent Myer building in a move it’s hoped will create an exciting retail mix to rival Garden City.

The rejuvenation of Fremantle’s Booyeembara Park by North Fremantle-based landscape architects Ecoscape has won the firm a swag of awards at the state’s inaugural Australian Institute of Landscape Architects awards.

The city’s retail sector is heating up with agents witnessing price increases of more than 20 per cent in less than a year for prime space in the Hay Street and Murray Street mall precincts.

Western Australia’s Wheatbelt could have its own $6 million convention and exhibition centre if the Dowerin Machinery Field Days board has its way.

Developer Finbar and a joint venture partner have paid $6 million for a site on the corner of Milligan and Wellington streets in Perth.

Industrial sales agents are tipping Bayswater and Bassandean as the next areas to attract major investment, as land and infrastructure within 15 kilometres of the city becomes increasingly scarce.

Australian investors spent $13.3 billion in overseas property markets last year, $8.9 billion of this in the US, making Australia the largest foreign buyer of US assets, according to a recent research paper.

Perth’s inner city continues to be a major investment focus in the local market amid strong off-the-plan apartment sales and major investments in new city residential and infrastructure projects.

Building approvals in Western Australia were down 21 per cent in February 2006 to 2,095, according to figures from the Department of Treasury and Finance.

A Federal Court judge has cited evidence of "serious misconduct" and "ruthless disregard" for the interests of investors and creditors in the collapsed Westpoint property group as he appointed rece

The Claremont City Council has given developers Hawaiian and Multiplex the green light for a $340 million, seven-storey residential and retail development along St Quentin Avenue in Claremont, almost a decade after the developers bought the site.

Lifestyle villages are hot property thanks to a booming market and an ageing population wishing to sell up and settle in to a village with a difference.

The Building Code of Australia will adopt five-star energy efficiency measures for new homes from May 1, raising concerns about the potential impact on construction costs.

MLG Realty has appointed Jason Whiteman (pictured) to the newly created position of general manager.

Another prime mixed-use lot has been released to tender in Midland amid a booming commercial and residential property market in Perth’s north-eastern corridor.

The state government’s announcement of a new state-wide land and redevelopment agency is welcome news for those in the industry who believe local governments have stifled development in parts of Western Australia.

Fremantle identity and Esplanade Hotel managing director Marilyn New is in mediation talks to secure planning approval to build 65 apartments within the existing Wool Stores building in Fremantle.

The National Trust of Australia (WA), a community-based heritage organisation, has raised concerns about the future of Newspaper House and other heritage-listed buildings when the proposed 28-storey Westralia Square building, by Multiplex and Griffin Grou

The Town of Victoria Park has knocked back an application for a 12-storey residential and commercial development near the foreshore at Burswood, further illustrating the growing issue of high-rise development.

Western Australia's third largest building group, the JWH Group, has acquired the state's longest established housing company, Plunkett Homes.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has obtained interim asset freezing orders against four directors of Westpoint and a number of companies associated with Westpoint founder Norm Carey.

Property industry representatives remain skeptical of any real benefits to homebuyers as a result of the State Government’s tax reform plans announced last week.

Subiaco-based property asset manager Wentworth Mutual Ltd has raised $20 million capital, mainly to reduce borrowings against conditionally secured property purchases that are yet to settle.

Commercial office rents in Subiaco are said to be matching, and in some cases rivaling, rents for prime space in West Perth as businesses line up to get a piece of the Subiaco lifestyle.

Subiaco-based property asset manager Wentworth Mutual Ltd has raised $20 million capital, mainly to reduce borrowings against conditionally secured property purchases that are yet to settle.