The two companies which have a lease hold over the convention site until 2039, Wyllie and Brookfield, have identified an opportunity to redevelop the waterfront precinct and submitted a proposal to government.
The state government announced yesterday that negotiations have begun and the government expects to have a business case for the redevelopment in the middle of the year.
Western Australia’s premier Roger Cook called the proposal a “revisioning” of the precinct.
“Our city deserves better than a shed on the river and this will right a historic wrong,” said Cook.
“The PCEC is 20 years old. It’s one of the oldest and smallest convention centres in Australia.
“And one of the important things that we know is that if we are going to attract prosperous business events to Perth, we need to continue to upgrade the facilities we make available to them.
“This vision…is all about making sure that we can continue to improve the convention centre so we can attract larger international events, which is all part of continuing to diversify through tourism and hospitality.”
The concept proposal will see PCEC get an additional 4,500m2 of high spec multi-function event space, strengthening its ability to host larger numbers of delegates in single or concurrent events. The proposal also includes a new convention hotel, alongside an outdoor theatre, food and beverage outlets and housing.
“The PCEC joint partners, Wyllie and Brookfield, have been collaborating on potential solutions for the PCEC site for over 12 months with a view to unlocking a major master-planned waterfront precinct that gives back to the city and to all West Australians,” said PCEC Joint Venture Partners managing director, Melissa Karlson.
“Our joint concept proposal to the state government would deliver for Perth a world class convention centre at the heart of a vibrant, connected, always-on waterfront precinct – an exciting city drawcard and a place for all people to live, work, play and visit.”
Karlson said the proposal had the support of the Australian Hotels Association, Business Events Perth, Perth Airport and Australia’s largest mining companies.
