ANOTHER massive Pickle District site is up for redevelopment, with a tired Newcastle Street caryard to become a six-building mini-village with a hotel, shops, bars and housing.
The megablock is owned by the company Automotive Properties and currently hosts a few scattered car-related businesses, but most of the massive block has been dormant since the tentpole business City Motors closed about five years ago when Holden stopped making cars.
This project, dubbed “Sydney Charles Quarter” after the founder of City Motors, is slated to take up almost one third of West Perth’s Pickle District.
But unlike the mid-section that’s in line to be demolished to make way for a Bunnings, this one won’t be displacing a host of arts and events businesses.
This has made it far less controversial than the Bunnings plan, which attracted 330 submissions, with 309 of those being opposed. Sydney Charles Quarter attracted just 21 submissions total. Only five of those were in opposition, mostly concerned about traffic.
The project is mostly in-line with what Vincent council and the Pickle District Town Team put on their wishlist in the newly minted Pickle District Planning Framework, which called for this landmark site to host “a variety of land uses including boutique retail, food and beverage offerings, bars, businesses, space for art and culture, and music”.
But it’s a little low-lying: The Pickle plan called for seven to 21 storeys for this “key” site, and this development barely scrapes the seven-storey minimum at its highest point.
The six buildings planned include a five-storey apartment block with a supermarket at ground floor, a five-storey block of commercial rentals and apartments, six storeys of offices and a seven-storey hotel. A broad commons area fills the middle.
The Old Pickle Factory, from which the whole district got its moniker, will be retained and renovated and continue to serve as an event space.
Vincent council staff have recommended the $107 million project be approved when it goes in front of the Joint Development Assessment Panel on November 7.
by DAVID BELL
Perth Voice Interactive 
Leave a comment