State drags feet on Freo move
Uncertainty about the State Gov-ernment's plan to move the Dep-artment of Housing to Fremantle threatens to further delay the $270 million Kings Square project at the heart of a revitalised city.
Work was to start last year but tenants in the former Myer building, a key part of Kings Square, have had their agreements extended until next August.
Project partner Sirona Capital Management is also expected to take an optional one-year extension to its two-year agreement with the City of Fremantle when it expires in May.
The plan is to redevelop the Myer building, Queensgate centre, Queensgate carpark and former Spicer carpark into an office, food, drink and retail precinct.
The deal allows Sirona, which owns the Myer site, to buy city-owned properties on the condition they are developed. Sirona has until May next year, including the one-year extension, to find tenant pre-commitments or the contracts lapse.
_The West Australian _ understands one cause of the delay is uncertainty over moving the Housing Department's head office to Fremantle as announced in 2012 as part of a wider Government decentralisation.
The private equity firm and the council want the department as an anchor tenant for Kings Square but it has yet to commit.
Sirona managing director Matthew McNeilly said he hoped for an announcement on tenancies within months and was confident work would start this year.
"It's not so much that the project is delayed, it's more that the project is a pretty complex beast and there are many component tasks to it," he said.
He believed the Government was committed to Fremantle but there were many elements that took time to get right.
These included big retail components, the civic precinct, which was about to go up for approval, and the various precincts.
He said talks were continuing with potential tenants, including a cinema and fashion retailers.
Finance Minister Bill Marmion said the Government "continued to consider value for money" for decentralisation.
Mayor Brad Pettitt was "quietly confident" the Government would commit to Fremantle.
