One of Perth’s most infamous restaurants and the former electorate office of long-time Curtin MP Julie Bishop is now poised to become a six-storey apartment complex.
One of Perth’s most infamous restaurants and the former electorate office of long-time Curtin MP Julie Bishop is now poised to become a six-storey apartment complex.
The old Mediterranean restaurant on 414 Rokeby Road in Subiaco was owned by Alan Bond in the 1980s, known to be the go-to Friday lunch spot for prominent businesspeople.
Among the regulars were Robert Holmes à Court, Laurie Connell and former Western Australian premier Brian Burke.
Ms Bishop moved into the former restaurant in 2012 after renovations transformed it to be her federal electorate office.
A two-storey office building remained at the 748 square metre site at the intersection of Nicholson Road and Rokeby Road.
Current CoreLogic data shows the site is owned by GBW Property and was acquired at $2.5 million in 2020.
GBW Property is proposing to demolish the existing building on the site and build a six-storey development comprising 10 apartments and three office tenancies.
Architecture firm Hames Sharley, as the applicant, lodged the development application to the Metro Inner North Joint Development Assessment Panel in April.
The City of Subiaco council has yet to weigh in but its planning officers have recommended the $8 million application be refused.
A report for the council's upcoming meeting was prepared by the city’s planning services manager, Anthony Denholm, and statutory planning services coordinator Brendan Phillips.
“The proposal seeks significant variations to some of the key planning controls for the site, including building height and plot ratio, and officers have recommended that the application be refused on this basis,” the report said.
The proposed six-storey height would exceed the three-storey limit in the city’s local planning framework and the Rokeby Road South Local Development Plan (RRSLDP).
According to a responsible authority report authorised by Mr Denholm, reducing building height at corner sites was a key outcome for the RRSLDP.
"The proposed building height of six storeys conflicts with the intent of retaining the corners at a lower height," it said.
"In conjunction with proposed variations to setbacks and plot ratio, this is considered to result in over-development of the site."
The report said the RRSLDP was recently adopted by the city and included extensive consultation with the local community.
The council will submit its recommendation to the JDAP following its meeting next week.
Australian Securities and Investments Commission documents show GBW Property directors as Nader El Sayed, Alexander Hewlett and Edwin Pope.
