Panel approves $73m Burswood apartment tower

The development assessment panel has unanimously approved Sydney-based real estate investor Marprop’s plan to build a $73 million apartment tower in Burswood.

The proposal, lodged by town planners element on behalf of Marprop Real Estate Investors and designed by Perth architects Cameron Chisholm Nicol, comprises a 22-storey tower at 43-47 Burswood Road featuring 186 dwellings, a restaurant, offices and 325 parking bays.

Marprop also sought permission to demolish a four-storey office building at the site, currently occupied by maintenance services provider Programmed.

Marprop has been sitting on the site since 2019, after purchasing it from Singaporean group Fisel for more than $13 million.

The 4,665 square metre lot is the group’s only asset in Western Australia, having developed $1.5 billion worth of real estate in the eastern states.

The Town of Victoria Park had recommended the development application be approved by the Metro Inner-South Joint Development Assessment Panel, subject to a suite of conditions.

The panel exercised its discretion to unanimously approve the tower during a meeting this morning, which exceeded the area’s maximum height limit by four storeys.

Among those to voice concerns about the proposed height of the building was the town’s former mayor Trevor Vaughan, who said its approval could set a precedent for future developments in the area.

But the town’s planning staff and those on the panel insisted it wouldn’t, and said the proposal’s approval would instead set a benchmark for design excellence.

Panel member and long-serving councillor Vicki Potter said she would be pleased simply to see something built at the site, which has been the subject of two development applications over the past 15 years that were approved but never eventuated.