ApartmentsChris ThomsonTue 06 Oct 26
Extra Time Sought for AUKUS Homes in WA Naval Boomtown Rockingham
Among the first ripples in a tsunami of housing demand forecast to hit the naval city of Rockingam due to the AUKUS pact, a lawyer-cum-developer says the federal government has agreed to lease apartments in his stalled $20-million project.
Barrister Phillip Jackson has requested a two-year commencement extension for his 47-apartment project that was approved in December 2022 for a 3161sq m site at 142 and 144 Parkin Street in the southern Perth municipality.
Jackson’s site is three streets back from Rockingham’s popular Palm Beach, off which sits Garden Island, the home of the HMAS Stirling naval base. An $8-billion expansion of the base is under way to support UK and US nuclear-powered submarines as part of the trilateral AUKUS pact.
The original approval for Jackson’s planned five-storey apartment building, named Arbour, is due to expire on 12 December 2026. His new development application said the apartments had not been started for several reasons.
“Current market and construction cost conditions ... have affected the feasibility of proceeding, requiring ... reassess[ment of] the project’s delivery timing and funding structure,” the application said.
According to the extension request, Defence Housing Australia has expressed interest in leasing the entire development for naval housing, and has offered to buy 10 of the project’s 47 apartments.
Jackson’s application said that, associated with AUKUS, DHA had now agreed to lease apartments in his DMA Architecture-designed building.
Also revealed by the planning application was that Jackson, who has owned the Parkin Street site for 21 years, is pursuing $10 million of funding through the Western Australian government’s Build-to-Rent Kickstart Fund.
“Atlas Builders (WA) provided input into and support of the expression of interest for the BR fund,” the application said.
“Unfortunately, the fund took until August 2026 to indicate its support for the development and Atlas has now indicated that it is no longer available.”
The application said another builder was being sought, and the project’s pause was due to “awaiting the outcome of this BR Fund funding application” and “delays associated with contract negotiations with DHA”.
The WA government anticipates that federal AUKUS funding commitments will create 10,000 direct jobs around Rockingham over the next 20 years. Anticipating that growth, DHA is partnering with Parcel, Forma and Plunkett to build 550 homes in the area for defence personnel.
In a separate process that closed in July, the WA government sought proposals to develop 18ha of land in Rockingham's town centre for housing. That was after H-U and Built Development Group proposed housing for the site, which the state determined to have a reasonable prospect of meeting its criteria but did not justify further engagement.
Public comment to the City of Rockingham on Jackson’s extension-of-time request close at 4.30pm on Thursday, October 22. Once the city sifts through submissions, it will make a recommendation to WA’s metro outer development assessment panel that will be the decision-making authority.
