Gary Kleyn

WHILE the major banks have been closing branches, WA’s second largest credit society has quietly been expanding its suburban presence.

MONTAGU Stockbrokers and former AMP State manager David Newman have amassed more than $130 million to kick start their new boutique financial services company Epic Asset Management.

MARGARET River wine producer Palandri Wines has bought more land on the Bussell Highway, paying the brothers of executive director Rob Palandri $737,000 for a 29.3 hectare property.

BUILDING industry groups, fighting to increase the first home buyers grant for new home purchases, have put a further damper on sales as many potential buyers waited to see if the grant was increased.

EVIDENCE of just how tough it’s become out there for builders has come to light with a report commissioned for Business News by Construction Research Australia.

THE past year saw a number of major new retail developments completed which added over 50,000 square metres of floor space with the largest being the 16,500 square metre extension to Garden City.

THE merger talks between Cedar Woods and Menzies Court highlights the synergy between the two companies.

PROPERTY developers Menzies Court and Cedar Woods have baulked at a merger proposal after at least a fortnight of secret negotiations.

AFTER an active start to 2000 for the office market, the latter half was extremely quiet in CBD and West Perth sales.

DESPITE the GST having a strong impact on the industrial market and generally slowing activity the year saw a number of record deals, according to Chesterton International industrial sales and leasing director Ben Davies.

BUSINESS expectations are at their lowest ebb in a decade, according to the latest Dun & Bradstreet National Business Expectations Survey.

THE hotel industry is awash with talk that Australia’s big brewers are back in the hotel business, following recent activity in Perth and on the East Coast.

LOCAL councils will play a more prominent position in the Perth of the future, according to Peter Newman.

WOODSIDE is winning the crucial public relations against suitor the Royal Dutch/Shell group, with concern about the offer price and national interest favouring the Perth-based energy company’s takeover defence.

SUMMER may well be the best time to sell homes.Perth sales for the 1999 December quarter were 39 per cent higher than the September quarter, according to figures released by the Real Estate Institute of WA.

THE Master Builders’ Association has welcomed changes to the Builders Registration Act which will improve the mechanism for resolving building disputes and deal with faulty or unlicensed building work.

ALBANY Business Enterprise Centre chairman Bruce Manning has been appointed director of the Great Southern Development Commission.

OLDER style inner city apartments and townhouses are being overlooked by “empty nesters” leading to an undervaluation of them.

A PLAN to guide and control land use and development within the City of Joondalup was launched last week by Planning Minister Graham Kierath.

THE WA Labor party has promised to streamline the bureaucracy surrounding property development and reduce red tape if it won government at the next State election.

THE WA Government has sliced a $2.6 million annual cost from business by removing the $75 business name renewal fee.

Top Ten .... Bottom Ten

LEEDERVILLE could become the centre of the next wave of office development.

BLUE chip suburbs give the best long-term returns, according to a survey by Acton Central Consolidated.

THE Property Council and the Fremantle Chamber of Commerce (FCC) are considering a proposal to form a Fremantle Property Council to represent developers interests in the port city.

OFFERS to buy homes affected by the Fremantle Rockingham Industrial Area Regional Strategy by the WA Government have been brought forward.

AUSTRALIA has the corporate equivalent of a cultural cringe when it comes to encouraging and applauding the international acquisition, managing and value adding efforts of Australian companies, according to National Australia Bank managing director and CE

THE $200 million marine industrial precinct at Jervoise Bay has moved a step forward with the awarding of a $16 million contract for the construction of an island breakwater.

BUNBURY’S Lighthouse Beach Resort is to undergo a $30 million upgrade which will include self contained apartments.

THE new building industry must focus more on young people as a source of sales, according to BGC Housing director Julian Ambrose.

THE finger should be pointed at the Australian Taxation Office for not providing a clear ruling on the GST treatment of the sale of a going concern, according to Phillips Fox partner Geoff Stevens.

A MODERATING growth outlook and a slowing US has caused some economists to change their tune in relation to the interest outlook.