$33m short-stay accommodation approved at Kingsway City Shopping Centre

Kingsway City Shopping Centre will be home to a new $33 million short-stay accommodation facility containing 135 rooms. State planners approved the development at a Metro Outer Development Assessment Panel meeting last week, with the complex also including six restaurant/cafe vendors on the ground floor. The eight-storey development will be built within the shopping centre’s current carpark area next to the main entrance, with 97 parking bays removed but 46 reinstated following the apartments’ construction. It will include a lobby and reception area, gym and meeting rooms. The area sits within the Kingsway City Activity Centre and is already well-serviced with retail, food, service station, childcare, gym and medical centre facilities. The unanimous approval followed the City of Wanneroo’s recommendation for approval, despite 46 of 62 submissions from the public objecting to the proposal, which stands 29m tall. The applicant for the development was Urbis on behalf of the owners Tah Land Pty Ltd. The report submitted by Urbis said the development would serve a shortage of short-term accommodation facilities in Perth’s northern and eastern corridors. Urbis senior planning consultant Declan Creighan said the development, together with the retailers and hospitality in the area over recent years, “will set the foundation for a more diverse and vibrant activity centre” “The development will transform an area that is currently a carpark into an activated mix-use extension to the current retail area, transforming the centre from a majority suburban shopping centre into a fully integrated and mixed-use activity centre.,” he said. DAP deputy presiding member Eugene Koltasz described the proposal as “an interesting one for a suburban shopping centre” but one that fits the planning framework and appropriate as a regional tourism facility. “The use in my view is appropriate in terms of the Kingsway City Shopping Centre,” he said. “It’s compatible with the existing centre ... and the building is well back from Wanneroo Road and surrounding residential developments. “Main Roads and the Department of Planning have supported the traffic impact assessment.”