Latest Headlines

Two companies established by academics with close links to the University of Western Australia are among the latest recipients of federal government research and development grants.

Large block sizes may be a key attraction for many living in the Perth Hills area, but the landscape is set to change with a number of higher density residential developments being proposed for the region.

Building companies are set to benefit from strong mining-driven demand for housing in the Pilbara, with two major projects getting the go ahead in the past week.

Perth-based asset management company PearlStreet Ltd has signed the sale and purchase agreement for the acquisition of former Leighton Contractors Pty Ltd subsidiaries Metlabs and ITS for $32 million, the company has announced.

Malaga-based scaffolding and form-work supplier PCH Group Ltd has rejected an increased takeover bid from UK-based industrial services company Cape plc, saying the $1.30 per share offer was not high enough.

Housing affordability in Perth has reached a crisis and the blame game has started in earnest.

With the survival of the Howard-Costello government looking shaky, Australians face the prospect of whizz-bang Kevin Rudd as prime minister.

Eight years after being incorporated, four years after listing on the stock market, three years after winning its first contract, and one year after delisting, Perth company AnaeCo Ltd is close to commercialising its innovative waste treatment technology.

Perth may be at the centre of a once-in-a-generation boom, but many feel we are not capitalising on it.

Belated as it may be, the development of the Swan River foreshore to the south west of the CBD has actually taken its first serious step forward in a couple of decades.

Engagement, layering, connectivity. Apart from the obvious focus on some very big and very real projects, there was a subtext of language around the WA Business News boardroom.

Imagine changing the name of Kings Park to Kaarta gar-up, or river cruises that follow the route of the Aboriginal dreamtime's rainbow serpent, the Wagyl.

Withoffice space in Perth and West Perth at capacity, the corporate sector is being forced to look further afield for premises to grow into.

The former Parker & Parker solicitors office building on Howard Street in Perth has been sold for about $3.6 million.

If one building summarised the modern evolution of Perth's business district, then 1 Adelaide Terrace, which sold last week for $87 million, could well be it.

Western Australia's resources boom continues to put pressure on Perth's commercial office space market, according to the Property Council of Australia WA.

Western Australia has the lowest rate of housing affordability in the nation, according to a new study by the Urban Development Institute of Australia.

The state government has revealed plans to increase rental housing supply in the inner city by using investment from superannuation funds and property trusts to redevelop four sites in Northbridge.

Namibia, Tanzania, Zambia and Malawi are a long way from Perth, but they are the names of African countries that should be burning deeply into the conscience of Western Australia'

The Centre for Cerebral Palsy is planning a $25 million redevelopment of its Sir David Brand centre in Coolbinia, as part of a move by the organisation to modernise its image and upgrade services.

Housing affordability is a political hot button at the moment, but visiting American public policy guru Wendell Cox believes we've only got ourselves to blame.

Ian and Tricia Tassell are supposed to be retired, but given they refer to themselves as Mr and Mrs Boss, the decision to spend their later years in the state's South West has become anything but well-earned time off.

One theme emerged strongly when 10 prominent Western Australian business executives attended a WA Business News boardroom forum last week to discuss the future development of Perth – frustration at the slow pace of change.

A late-night lounge bar designed for enjoying a martini or two will open at the Burswood Complex later this month. Called MINQ Bar and Lounge, Burswood says the bar will be an intimate and indulgent late night meeting place for those looking to escape the

Perth-based iron ore hopeful Sundance Resources Ltd has raised $10 million through a placement to AMCI Holdings Pty Ltd and associated resources fund Triangle Resources Fund.

TSG Key Group's David Simmons and Message Group's Kym Illman are among the winners of this year's Western Region Entrepreneur Of The Year awards, founded and produced by Ernst & Young.

Next week, Peet Ltd CEO Warwick Hemsley hands over the reigns to Brendan Gore. WA Business News caught up with Mr Hemsley to discuss his 22 years with Peet and its transition from a private WA company to a major national player.

Incoming Peet chief executive and former mining executive, Brendan Gore, has largely missed out on most of the boom times in the sector where he spent the first 14 years of his career.

Its days of pioneering land sales in Western Australia on terms of a one-pound deposit and interest-free repayments of 10 shilling per month may be long gone, but property stalwart Peet Ltd has not lost any of its entrepreneurial spirit.

Peet Ltd has started selling villas in the first of several planned new lifestyle retirement village projects as it moves to capitalise on the ageing baby boomer market.

Labour shortages and escalating building costs in regional and remote areas have prompted some building companies in Western Australia to seek innovative housing solutions.

The Great Southern town of Denmark could have a new major shopping centre next year, with Perth-based diversified property player Castelli Group and the Denmark Cooperative Company Ltd spearheading a $10 million joint venture.