GDI Scales Back $1bn Perth Office Tower Plans

Busy property syndicator GDI Property Group is leaning into an expected recovery in the Perth office market, resubmitting plans for a $1-billion office tower at western end of the city’s CBD.

Plans were first put forward for a 33-storey, premium-grade office tower at 1 Mill Street, designed by Woods Bagot, in November 2020 before securing planning approval from the Perth Local Development Area Assessment Panel in February 2021.

The previously approved project, on the corner of Mill Street and Mounts Bay Road, included demolishing the existing 1 Mill Street and delivering upwards of 40,000sq m in new commercial space.

GDI Property Group has now returned to the City of Perth with a reduced scheme, opting for a 20-storey development comprising 29,900sq m of office space with the adaptive re-use of an existing office building.

The 8700sq m site is currently occupied by a four-level commercial building—the redevelopment will also incorporate broader precinct works to 5 Mill Street and 197 St Georges Terrace, collectively known as the Mill Green Complex.

The new precinct, dubbed Mill Green, will include an enclosed food and dining precinct, inner city garden areas, an amphitheatre and entertainments areas, a retail precinct, gymnasium, childcare facilities and a covered passageway from St Georges Terrace to the new building. 

Based in Sydney and established in 1993, GDI originally operated as Grosvenor Direct Investments. It now manages close to 50 projects with a total value in excess of $2.5 billion.

The ASX-listed fund manager has been stepping up its exposure to the West Australian market during the past decade and acquired the Mill Street properties in 2011.

The company has since undertaken extensive refurbishments to the existing building’s facade, office space and end-of-trip facilities but has decided to press forward with grander redevelopment plans to attract higher calibre tenants.

▲ Revised renders of the proposed development at 1 Mill Street. Image: Woods Bagot

GDI Property Group managing director Steve Gillard said the eastern side of the CBD had benefetting from sizable investment and redevelopment, such as the development of Elizabeth Quay, however the western end has been somewhat overlooked.

The tower will feature customizable floor plates, ranging from 770sqm to 1700sq m to suit all tenant fit-out requirements.

It will also include a single level of basement parking and end-of-trip facilities, a large conference room and terraced area above the building’s podium.

GDI Property Group is also pursuing other development opportunities in central Perth including at Westralia Square, where it has increased the scale of the proposed development of the excess land.

That $100-million, 11-storey tower on the block between Mill and William streets will also be premium grade with five levels of basement parking, flexible floors of up to 866sq m and market leading Covid-19 safe systems.

It is billed as Perth CBD’s first timber building with sustainably sourced cross-laminated timber providing both environmental and occupant wellbeing benefits.

Nearby, Brookfield Asset Management similarly has approval to construct a state-of-the-art timber office building which will reach 10-storeys in height on the corner of Spring Street and Mounts Bay Road. Meanwhile, AAIG is pressing ahead for two towers of its own on Mounts Bay Road.

Developers have been quick to move on Perth’s office sector with the city’s population tipped to double by 2050. Major projects include Brookfield building two towers—58 and 21 levels, respectively—at Elizabeth Quay, costing an estimated $1.1 billion.

The office vacancy rate in the Perth CBD has in recent months fallen to its lowest level in more than six years, boosted by strong tenant demand and declining stock as some landlords look at refurbishments.

Since the start of the year, the proportion of empty office spaces has dropped by 3.6 percentage points to 16.8 per cent—the largest fall across major CBD markets.