WA Unveils $1bn Subiaco Masterplan

Draft plans have been released for a 35 hectare site surrounding the newly-refurbished Subiaco Oval, the “original home” of Western Australian football.

The government-led masterplan, spearheaded by Landcorp and the Metropolitan Redevelopment Authority, intends to create more than 2,000 homes for about 4,000 residents.

The development, expected to attract more than $1 billion in private sector investment, will include the now-defunct Princess Margaret Hospital site, land along the rail line at West Leederville Station as well as the former Australian Football League venue.

Planning minister Rita Saffioti said the masterplan development, one of the most significant urban infill redevelopments ever undertaken in WA, would continue to build on the state's vision for this inner-City suburb.

“[Subi East] will create a new gateway to the Perth CBD, building stronger links between West Leederville, Subiaco and West Perth - contributing to Perth's continuing development as one of the world's most liveable cities and creating thousands of local jobs in the process,” Saffioti said.

The 20-year project, which is expected to generate 2,700 jobs during construction and more than 660 ongoing jobs once fully developed, will eventually become home to more than 4,000 people and provide over 7.5 hectare of public space.

This includes the recently reinstated Subiaco Oval, now open to the general public for the first time in decades.

Closed since 2017, before the opening of Optus Stadium, grandstands have since been demolished and its playing surface reinstated, together with dug-outs, 250 of the original wooden grandstand seats and new goal posts.

The heritage-listed original entry gates have also been retained and restored.

The masterplan will aim to reignite the once vibrant inner-city suburb which has seen the closing of the Princess Margaret Hospital and prominent Pavilion Markets strip the area of vibrancy.

Businesses have also felt the brunt of the end of the state's mining boom, a flat property market and the AFL's move away from Subiaco Oval with vacancy sitting at 15 per cent.

The state government has now committed more than $200 million kick-start the new precinct.

The final masterplan is expected to be completed late 2020 and early works anticipated to commence in 2021.

The Subiaco masterplan follows a recent play by Broadcast baron Kerry Stokes and mining billionaire Andrew Forrest to transform the derelict East Perth Power Station into a mixed-use precinct.

The $218 million redevelopment will aim to celebrate the heritage of the power station building, which has sat unused since 1981, by creating a mix of new residential, commercial, recreational and tourism opportunities.