The historic site of Shenton Park Hospital in Perth is inviting expressions of interest from developers as part of the first steps towards being transformed into Montario Quarter, a contemporary inner city urban village with residential and retail precincts.
Lands Minister Rita Saffioti has marked the start of construction and announced the sale of the first two development lots.
Montario Quarter will be transformed into a modern, well-designed community offering about 1,500 new apartments and townhouses, together with a village shopping precinct of more than 5,000 square metres of floor space.
“With construction now underway, Montario Quarter is set to become a vibrant community development which respects the site’s former life as a place of healing and wellbeing,” said Ms Saffioi.
“For infill to be a success it must be as diverse as possible and targeted around key public transport infrastructure – this project fulfils both these requirements.
“The preservation of significant elements of the hospital site, such as Victoria House and the retained mature trees, will ensure its heritage and community significance is reflected and incorporated in the estate.
“More than 25 per cent of Montario Quarter will be public open space, including retained bushland, walking trails; parklands, exercise and playground equipment, and a nature play area, delivering a thriving urban village in a landscaped setting.”
The project will ultimately become a key example of the State Government’s efforts to revitalise underutilised land around key public transport infrastructure into high-quality urban infill.
The new estate sits alongside Shenton College and is 400m from Shenton Park train station, and will provide pedestrian and cycling links to these and key bus routes.
The historic Victoria House also overlooks the parkland and public open space at Montario Quarter, and will form the centrepiece of the new estate.
Once repurposed in line with heritage requirements, the building could be suitable for multiple adaptive re-use opportunities including office, retail, commercial or community uses including childcare and aged-care services.
The State Government’s land development agency LandCorp is managing the Expressions of Interest process for the two mixed-use zoned R160 lots.
LandCorp’s land development civil works will create more than 50 jobs, and unlock up to 300 construction-related jobs per annum over the 10 years of development build-out. Also, 500 jobs will be generated through the commercial precinct.
