Expat to transform Freo’s Piazza

The upper floor space in Fremantle’s South Terrace Piazza gives the impression of a nascent business going places.

The walls are adorned with impressive artworks and mind maps featuring the names of key players involved in the revitalisation of the 1980s-built retail and hospitality precinct.

Retail consultant Simone Pirovich, real estate agent Darryl Ashworth, town planner Greg Rowe, Bruno Charpentier of Studio Field, Spacemarket’s Sarah Booth, community engagement expert Henry Boston and architect Michael Benson are among the names etched on makeshift posters.

Stockbroker Bronwyn Owen and her local offsider Jasmine Rodet spoke with Business News about the project, months on from Ms Owen’s purchase of the central Fremantle asset.

Ms Owen, who was born in Kelmscott but spends most of her time in New York, surprised many when she emerged as the buyer of the 2,831 square metre site.

She used her own money to purchase the property, which sold for $12.5 million in September last year.

Ms Owen is the international head of the Children’s Investment Fund: one of the world’s largest hedge funds with about $US77 billion assets under management.

“I am still on Wall Street; I work for a very famous billionaire called Chris Hohn … he’s an incredible investor,” Ms Owen said.

“That’s my day job, and this project here is my philanthropy or my community [work].”

The hedge fund manager acquired the Piazza from Pete Adams’ PARC Developments, which abandoned plans to build a hotel on the site.

Ms Owen has less complex but, arguably, equally grand ambitions for the site, with a vision to transform the Piazza into a local arts hub.

It will be the first project of this nature she has undertaken.

“I’ve been fascinated with this idea of having a Neal’s Yard, which is in [London’s] Covent Garden, somewhere, because I just love Neal’s Yard,” Ms Owen told Business News.

“I love the cobblestones, I love the colour, I love the co-op kind of community ideology.”

Neal’s Yard, in London’s west end, was developed in the 17th century and restored in the 1970s.

It features an array of colourful shopfronts, with independent restaurants, cafes and retailers.

For Ms Owen, a conversation with Sarah Booth, of Spacemarket and H-U, sparked a desire to bring her idea to life in Fremantle.

“I had the idea [and] I kind of scribbled it all out, and then a friend of mine, Henry Boston, introduced me to Sarah Booth,” Ms Owen said.

“We sat down at … Adrian Fini’s hotel Ode to Sirens … and Sarah said, ‘Oh my god, this is fantastic’.”

A subsequent conversation with a real estate agent drew Ms Owen’s attention to the Piazza, which was brought to market in April 2025.

“Then I walked through and basically got involved in the bid process, and was able to successfully get the asset,” she said.

Ms Owen plans to eradicate some of the steel structures within the Piazza but keep its more nostalgic elements.

“The idea is to lean into what we have here, but just to clean it up and make it a space that people want to be,” she said.

Cobblestones are likely to replace the existing brick paving and greenery will be added.

The space hosted Fremantle’s inaugural ReWild Fest on April 11, orchestrated in part by former independent political candidate Kate Hulett.

The entity through which Ms Owen bought the property at 36 South Terrace, RewildWA Co Pty Ltd, could be a nod to the event.

Several murals have been installed in the Piazza space in recent months. Photo: Michael O’Brien

Art focus

Work has begun on the Piazza’s revitalisation, in the form of street art.

Several murals have been spraypainted on the walls, including works by Western Australian artist Jerome Davenport.

For Ms Owen, the main goal is encouraging more foot traffic through the area, which connects South Terrace to Paddy Street Mall.

“We just had a couple of people who got off [a cruise ship], they came in, walked around, looked around and turned around and walked out,” she said.

“Once we get people come in, look around and stay, that’s when I think we’ll know we’ve done something.”

Ms Owen also hopes to install a Children’s Museum of Art and Storytelling in the space, combining four ground floor tenancies to do so.

While she couldn’t yet put a price on the refurbishment of the Piazza, Ms Owen acknowledged it would be costly.

“It’s going to cost some money, but I think to get it where we need to be we’ve got to spend some money,” she said.

Ms Owen said she felt connected to Fremantle through her grandfather, who used to work the docks of the port city. 

“[As a child], Freo was always unattainable to me, coming from Kelmscott … it was like a day out,” she said. “We never had any money back then. 

“[Recently] I thought, there’s no point having money if you don’t do something with it, because I had a realisation that you can’t take it with you, so I’m spending my money.” 

Ms Owen also aspires to enter the affordable housing space.

The steel structure is expected to be demolished to create more space. Photo: Michael O’Brien

Tenant mix

Fremantle Piazza comprises 36 tenancies across two levels and 2,831sqm of net lettable area. 

Many of the tenancies are vacant, which has led to antisocial behaviour in recent years. Efforts have been made to temporarily activate the spaces, however. 

Spacemarket worked with vintage clothing and homewares businesses in 2024 to fill some of the Piazza’s empty spaces. 

Additionally, Fremantle arts advocate Ros De Souza has beautified empty shopfronts in the Piazza with local artworks, as she has done with many vacant sites around the port city. 

Long-term tenants are few and far between, but Ms Owen is in no rush to fill the Piazza. “I would like to have tenants align with the long-term vision and so I’m definitely quite particular,” she said. 

“I am wanting to execute on a long-term plan, but [it’s] baby steps to get there.” Alternative educator IDEA Academy has signed a 10-year deal to occupy the space, which for Ms Owen is an ideal fit. 

“Long term, I do see 100 to 150 kids running around,” she said. 

“I think right now they’ve got 30, but this is just the beginning. They’re going to be with us long term. 

“It’s about finding partners that are aligned with what we want to be.” 

The Piazza’s revitalisation comes amid a raft of proposed developments for Fremantle, which has been plagued by high retail vacancy in recent years.

Among these are the Sporting Globe’s redevelopment of the former Hungry Jack’s site across the road from the Piazza into a three-storey tavern.

Andrew and Nicola Forrest’s Fiveight has proposed a $50 million hotel on the site of the former Spicers building on Henderson Street.

Elsewhere, two pod-hotel projects are proposed for the port city with the promise of bringing more than 400 new beds to the area.