Perth’s Metronet hubs are fast becoming bankable territory. Backed by state and federal funding, 15 build-to-rent projects are moving through consultation and towards construction, providing a clearer runway for private developers to follow.

The projects, totalling 1365 apartments, are being progressed by DevelopmentWA. On completion they will be sold to community housing providers.

Professor Steven Rowley, director of Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute at Perth’s Curtin University, says that increasing density should make the private sector more confident that there is appropriate infrastructure around most of the projects.

“Many of the areas selected are not traditionally associated with density, which adds risk to private sector development for developers and lenders,” he tells The Urban Developer.

“If the affordable developments lead to increased amenity and create desirable precincts, this has a positive impact on revenue and potential feasibility.

“However, private sector outcomes all hinge on the financial feasibility of development and while that is no problem in areas such as [the leafy inner-western suburb of] Subiaco, the financial challenges of delivering apartments in, say, [the outer north-eastern suburb of] Midland are very different.”

Grabbing attention among the projects is a Hassell-designed 29-level apartment building at Pier Street, East Perth, that is due to top out soon, and complete in 2027.

The tower, being built on an 1841sq m site by Icon Construction, will be the WA capital’s first 100 per cent build‑to‑rent development, comprising 109 rentals at market rates, 66 social homes and 44 affordable homes.

And in late January, public consultation closed on another Icon Construction project, a 30-floor, 175-apartment social housing tower at Roe Street in Perth.

Designed by Perth-based MJA Studio, the structure is slated to rise in the City Link development that, after a segment of the Perth-to-Fremantle rail line was sunk a decade ago, joined the CBD to the 24-hour party precinct of Northbridge.

Image from half-way up the build-to-rent project at Pier Street looking across to other East Perth towers.

▲ The 29-level build-to-rent project at Pier Street is about to top out.

But it is the unheralded 13 other projects that WA planning and lands minister John Carey is charged with delivering that are likely to make a dent in the low-cost housing crisis gripping the suburbs of the sprawling western metropolis.

Carey tells The Urban Developer that joint funding of the projects by the state and the federal government’s Housing Australia Future Fund is “supercharging” delivery of social and affordable housing across Perth.

He says the first projects among these smaller build-to-rent developments remain on track to start construction in the January quarter of 2026.

WA company PACT Construction will build 501 apartments across projects at Kelmscott, Bassendean, Subiaco, Ellenbrook, Wellard in Perth’s coastal City of Kwinana, Butler in the northern Perth City of Wanneroo and White Gum Valley in the port city of Fremantle that reluctantly sits within metropolitan Perth.

Of these, the Kelmscott, Bassendean, Subiaco and Ellenbrook ones have reached public consultation phase.

‘Landmark’ Kelmscott corner

At Kelmscott, in the outer-eastern Perth City of Armadale, DevelopmentWA has proposed a six-level project on a 3227sq m block on busy Albany Highway.

Sited between the highway to the east and the Armadale train line to the west, the site is 50m from Kelmscott train station.

The development, designed by Hassell, proposes 50 affordable and 15 social housing apartments configured as 31 one and 34 two-bedroom units.

The project’s development application says the building “directly addresses Albany Highway and the station plaza, with articulation of built form to accentuate the landmark corner”.

Public comments on the application, which will be decided by the Armadale Land Redevelopment Committee, close on February 21.

Rendering of the planned six-floor Kelmscott project on Albany Highway, 50m from Kelmscott train station

▲ The Hassell-designed, six-floor Kelmscott project planned for Albany Highway would be 50m from the train station.

Contaminated site at Bassendean

In the one-time railway worker suburb of Bassendean, 10km north-east of the Perth CBD, a $38-million, nine-level project of 73 apartments is proposed for a 3353sq m block.

The site is a paved carpark at the intersection of Park Lane, Guildford Road and Wilson Street. It is affected by asbestos contamination and would need to be remediated before building began.

If approved by the WA Planning Commission, the building would rise less than 40m across Guildford Road from the Bassendean train station, and have 49 two-bedroom and 24 one-bedroom units.

The Plus Studio-designed project would have 58 affordable and 15 social housing units. The plan is open for comment until February 27.

An external rendering of the Bassendean project

▲ The contaminated site of the Bassendean project would need to be remediated.

Celebrating Subiaco craftsmanship

On Hay Street at Subiaco, a six-floor project is planned for a 1781sq m site once part of the former Australian Fine China factory, which operated from 1921 to 2006.

Also designed by Plus Studio, the 55-unit building would be a floor higher than envisaged by design guidelines for the area around the former china factory.

The site is 3.5km from the Perth CBD and 650m from Subiaco train station.

The project’s development application, to be considered by the Subiaco Land Redevelopment Committee, proposes 44 affordable and 11 social housing units configured as 18 one and 37 two-bedroom apartments.

The application says the building’s volume, curves and “traditional brick kiln tones” are influenced by the landmark kilns that occupied the area and celebrate “the craftsmanship and industrial character that once defined the site”. Public comment closes on February 14.

A rendering of the front of the planned Subiaco project

▲ The arches and brick kiln tones of the Subiaco development celebrate the erstwhile industrial character of the site, the project DA says.

Two Villages concept

At Ellenbrook, 29km north-east of the Perth CBD, a 197-apartment, six-building project is proposed.

“The development has been designed as a ‘Two Villages’ concept with buildings pulled to the site edges to form two human scale ‘villages’ each organised around a shared courtyard,” according to the development application.

If approved by the WA Planning Commission, the project would offer 40 social and 157 affordable housing apartments on a 16,858sq m block at Lot 29 The Parkway beside the Ellenbrook train station.

“The development prioritises active transport over cars, given the short walking distance of ... two to five minutes to Ellenbrook [train] station and bus interchange,” the application says.

Comments close on February 13.

Rendering of one of the two village greens planned for the Ellenbrook project

▲ A rendering of one of two village greens planned for the Ellenbrook project.

Meanwhile, at Rivervale, Redcliffe, Woodbridge, Midland and Cannington in Perth’s east and Malaga in the city’s north, Perth-based EMCO Building has been contracted to erect a total of 470 apartments. Of these projects, the Midland and Cannington ones have reached public consultation phase.

Midland midrise

Designed by Plus Studio for a 2.5ha site 15km north-east of the Perth CBD are one four-level and two five-level apartment buildings beside the new bus interchange at Midland train station.

If approved, the development would comprise 120 apartments—24 as social and 96 affordable homes. The project would have 30 one and 90 two-bedroom units. Comments close on February 19.

An external rendering of the three buildings in the planned Midland project.

▲ The project at Midland would rise beside a new bus interchange.

Cannington consultation complete

An $85-million project planned for a 1.217ha site 200m from Cannington train station proposes 100 apartments over six levels.

Comments on the project, planned to comprise 80 affordable and 20 social housing apartments in a mix of one and two-bedroom units, closed on December 18. The WA Planning Commission is the approval authority.

External rendering of the project planned for Cannington

▲ The Cannington project would be 200m from the local train station.

Curtin University sustainability professor Peter Newman says the planned development of public housing near transport nodes is “pleasing to see” but that five-to-six level buildings around train stations are a “wasted opportunity”.

“In the past 20 years, there’s been a gradual acceptance in Perth of higher buildings for well-off people but when it’s public housing that’s another matter,” he tells The Urban Developer.

“If you don’t have density, you will have more and more homeless people.

“The reality is we need transit-oriented developments and certainly it’s now the case that it’s linked to productivity, health and homelessness not just to climate change, energy use and the environment.”

The Metronet project includes the construction of 72km of passenger rail lines and 18 stations, removing level crossings and upgrading signalling and rollingstock across Perth.

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