NORTHBRIDGE is receiving interest from developers and real estate agents who see benefits flowing from the tunnel project and associated redevelopment.
NORTHBRIDGE is receiving interest from developers and real estate agents who see benefits flowing from the tunnel project and associated redevelopment.
NSC Corporate Property Consultants director Steve Carulli has gone as far as to say Northbridge is poised to become the ‘Greenwich Village’ of Perth.
Mr Carulli said the opening of the tunnel would accelerate the trend of young affluent business people choosing to live and work in the area, especially those working in the ‘new economy’ hi-tech sector.
“In many respects, Northbridge may begin to mirror important social and economic trends which are now occurring in the US as a result of the explosion in growth in the information technology industries,” Mr Carulli said.
“Northbridge offers an exciting twenty-four hour living and working environment which the latest research for the US indicates is very attractive to people working in hi-tech sectors,” Mr Carulli said.
Recent research by NSC Corporate Property Consultants affiliate Cushman & Wakefield – one of the largest property groups in the world – shows demand for office space by hi-tech companies has soared in cities like New York, San Francisco and Boston.
“These cities are now hi-tech centres because people working in the new economy want to work and live in the environment of excitement and vibrancy these twenty-four hour cities offer,” Mr Carulli said.
“This trend is expected to increase even further with Cushman & Wakefield also predicting that high technology jobs will grow at seven times the national average in the US over the next decade.
“Northbridge offers a similar living and working environment which is already being tapped into by recent developments.
“In the last two years there have been a number of innovative property projects undertaken in the Northbridge area which have focused on providing accommodation which is attractive to young professionals and in close proximity to their workplace.
Mr Carulli said the historical Boot Factory, located at the corner of Lake and Newcastle Streets, was a classic example of this kind of development.
“When the Boot Factory was renovated by the Gorgi Group, a large proportion of the residential component was sold to single professional people who wanted to live close to their place of work,” he said.
“The commercial component of the development is currently being targeted at new age companies looking for less traditional office accommodation than typically found in the CBD and West Perth.
“The recent decision by the State Government to allow development on land above the tunnel will accelerate this kind of residential development.”
