Claremont centre given green light after $65m apartment, hotel development on Bay View Terrace approved

A $65m eight-storey apartment and hotel complex in Claremont’s village precinct has been approved by the State’s peak planning body. Developer JJ Leach Group received a green light from the Western Australian Planning Commission (WAPC) last Thursday to develop a mixed-use complex spanning 10-40 Bay View Terrace in Claremont. It will include 46 build-to-rent apartments, a 30-room hotel, medical consulting rooms, 16 commercial and retail tenancies and basement parking. According to design plans from Hames Sharley, the hotel will be spread across the building’s first and second floors, with the 46 apartments built above and having views of the CBD and Freshwater Bay. The area’s bustling shopfronts of eight years includes heritage facades, which the Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage spokesperson said would be preserved. “Most of the facades, including the parapets and columns, of the existing shops on the subject site on Bay View Terrace will be retained,” they said. A total of 79 parking bays will be created as part of the underground parking, but only six will be for visitors. The WAPC decision went against a Town of Claremont wish that 38 bays from the underground parking be converted to commercial parking. The town also wanted a cash-in-lieu payment of $838,500 as compensation for a shortfall of 43 bays in the development, but this was revised to $429,000 by the WAPC. It follows a town meeting in December where council members decided to back the development despite the plans being “inconsistent” with the area’s height and plot ratio. “The proposal was inconsistent with the height and plot ratio for the area, but the variations should be allowed as they fit the town’s vision for the area to become a bustling tourist destination,” a report by town officers said. “The application represents exceptional circumstances for approval by supporting the town centre as a place for recreation and tourism.”