A consortium led by international investment groups Brookfield Financial and John Laing has been named as preferred proponent to build Perth's new sporting stadium at an estimated cost of about $900 million.
A consortium led by international investment groups Brookfield Financial and John Laing has been named as preferred proponent to build Perth's new sporting stadium at an estimated cost of about $900 million.
The WESTADIUM consortium includes Brookfield Multiplex as builder and Brookfield Johnson Controls as facilities manager.
The state will now enter into exclusive negotiations with the consortium on features including the final contract cost and stadium design, before awarding the contract by the end of June.
The contract calls for the winning bidder to design, build, and finance the stadium, as well as maintain the stadium for a 25-year period.
Construction is due to commence at the end of this year, with the stadium set to open in time for the start of the 2018 AFL season.
Premier Colin Barnett said the cost estimate produced in the WESTADIUM tender was below the government's budget for the project but declined to put a dollar figure on the savings.
"The proposal is within our budget, not by a huge amount but it is within budget," he told reporters.
"Any minor changes that are made between now and the end of June may impact upon the budget but not to a great extent, so as far as the government is concerned this project is on time and on budget."
The WESTADIUM consortium beat out rival bids from Evolution, led by Probuild in joint venture with Plenary Origination, Bouygues Construction and Honeywell Limited; and Confidem, led by John Holland in joint venture with Capella Capital and Spotless Facilities Services.
The Confidem consortium has been selected as the reserve respondent in the unlikely event that the state's negotiations with WESTADIUM fall through.
The selection of a preferred proponent follows four months of technical, operational and commercial assessments from an evaluation panel.
Mr Barnett said the rigorous assessment process would ensure the stadium was not subject to the delays that have plagued some of the government's major projects, such as Perth Arena.
"Decisions were made once (Perth Arena) was virtually underway and that's why the budget blew out," he said.
"We have spent an enormous amount of time as a government, as has the evaluation panel and the steering committee, on all of the detail of exactly what will be in this stadium so we don't expect that sort of problem to occur."
Mr Barnett also appeared to confirm reports that Brookfield and Crown had discussed potentially developing a retail precinct which would link Perth Stadium to the nearby Crown casino but emphatically ruled out allowing any such proposal.
"I am aware that Brookfield put some proposals to Crown but that was not a proposal that was considered by government," he said.
"The process of selecting the stadium site and the stadium developer was conducted totally independently.
"There's nothing wrong with business groups having ideas but again...the land they're talking about about is state government land and this stadium will be in a parkland setting. That was made very clear and the government is not considering any proposal. I'll rule it out right now - we're not doing it."
The government says it will reveal the successful design for the stadium when it awards the contract in June.
Brookfield Multiplex declined to comment on its selection as preferred builder, saying it was bound by a confidentiality agreement.
