Old Perth Technical School - Redevelopment Progress

Redevelopment Progress

Proposed demolition of all buildings on the St Georges Terrace site was announced in 1985 by a state government agency, the WA Development Corporation, with the extraordinary support of the National Trust (WA), to facilitate major redevelopment tenders. However, premier Brian Burke was persuaded to order preservation of the 1910 building (only), following a public campaign waged by a pressure-group, "the Castle Keepers". In February 1985, the large site (including the various other college buildings) was valued at $19 million.

In 1986 Laurie Connell and Alan Bond, through his Bond Corporation, both bought 25% stakes in a larger amalgamated site which included Newspaper House, the Royal Insurance Building, and the 1890s WA Trustee Co building, in partnership with the State Superannuation Board. The consortium paid $33.5 million for the site. Two years later, the site was sold to Kerry Packer and Warren Anderson, who paid $270 million and had grand plans to build on what they called Westralia Square.

In the early 1990s, plans for a $2-billion development by Indonesia's Samma Group fell through. Anderson later left the project, with Packer selling his Westralia Square investment in 2003 for $19 million, taking a loss of more than $200 million on the deal. The purchaser was a partnership of Multiplex and Ric Stowe.

In 2008 the City of Perth granted approval to Multiplex for the construction of a 46-storey tower block on the site for BHP Billiton. The approval included strict conditions on maintaining the heritage values of the buildings along St Georges Terrace, including Newspaper House, the Royal Insurance Building, the 1890s WA Trustee Co building and the Old Perth Technical School.

In October 2010, the four heritage buildings were advertised for lease as "heritage office space" and described as "meticulously restored" as part of the City Square development, which was completed in 2012 and renamed Brookfield Place. The developer, then known as Brookfield Multiplex, recycled the Old Perth Technical School and other heritage buildings in a "heritage-minded development" which included a complex of non-conforming contemporary-design stairways to provide direct street-front access to tenants.