Arts & Humanities Abandoned Perth Buildings

[Herbs]

http://www.28dayslater.co.uk/forums/

Good urban exploartion forum, I remember a few years ago pics surfaced of the defunct MG car factory over there, cars still on the assembly line half built.

 

[WCErevival]

One abandoned place thats been there forever is the Freo wool stores. As far back as I can remember its just been a mess.

 

[External Inputs]

They're just sitting there waiting for the "mysterious" fire that allows a developer the opportunity to build another bland glass tower and achieve an enormous profit. It's the Perth way.

 

[BigKahunaBlue]

They're just sitting there waiting for the "mysterious" fire that allows a developer the opportunity to build another bland glass tower and achieve an enormous profit. It's the Perth way.

It's just not exclusive to perth, it's a very old developer trick.

What we should be bitching about in australia is the lack of power that departments in charge of heritage have. They have been set up as a front but really most times they are powerless to stop a greedy council and developer from preserving buildings.

Look at how fugly most of modern melbourne has turned out.

 

[Scotland]

I've noticed the same thing, for a city with a booming economy there seems to be an inordinate amount of unused real estate.

See what said real estate costs and how much red tape exists...

 

[External Inputs]

It's just not exclusive to perth, it's a very old developer trick.

What we should be bitching about in australia is the lack of power that departments in charge of heritage have. They have been set up as a front but really most times they are powerless to stop a greedy council and developer from preserving buildings.

Look at how fugly most of modern melbourne has turned out.

I'm only familiar with Perth, where it happens with monotonous regularity, to the point a friend of mine and I refer to old, boarded up buildings as "waiting for a fire".

I've done enough bitching about the lack of heritage protection in Perth in the past, I was even on a Town of Vincent committee that met a few times and then disappeared without trace.

There just isn't the will here, and since local governments have to derive a fair amount of income from building approvals, and the state government want a denser population to contain the sprawl and the inevitable extra services this requires, I can't see anything changing.

Big old buildings do present a lot of problems for a developer, fitting modern necessities and establishing a potential use for such buildings that the market will embrace is much harder than starting again. In other countries, the regulations are much stricter and have been for some time. If you want to be in a certain, desirable area, there's no choice but to contend with the restrictive rules, everyone has to. Here, there has been so much destruction, it's harder to make a case for the handful that are left when they're surrounded by the new. If a developer finds one site too hard, there's often other, better options nearby.

 

[showdownhero]

See what said real estate costs and how much red tape exists...

Even the old Villa Italia Restaurant on the cnr of Aberdeen and William St in Northbridge has remained vacant for more than 6 months. Surely the laws of demand and supply dictate that the owner would rather have a client in there paying less rent than have it unused indefinitely.

Just doesn't make sense to me

 

[Mr_Bojangles]

I'm only familiar with Perth, where it happens with monotonous regularity, to the point a friend of mine and I refer to old, boarded up buildings as "waiting for a fire".

I've done enough bitching about the lack of heritage protection in Perth in the past, I was even on a Town of Vincent committee that met a few times and then disappeared without trace.

There just isn't the will here, and since local governments have to derive a fair amount of income from building approvals, and the state government want a denser population to contain the sprawl and the inevitable extra services this requires, I can't see anything changing.

Big old buildings do present a lot of problems for a developer, fitting modern necessities and establishing a potential use for such buildings that the market will embrace is much harder than starting again. In other countries, the regulations are much stricter and have been for some time. If you want to be in a certain, desirable area, there's no choice but to contend with the restrictive rules, everyone has to. Here, there has been so much destruction, it's harder to make a case for the handful that are left when they're surrounded by the new. If a developer finds one site too hard, there's often other, better options nearby.

Look at what's happening with one of Guildford's cherished icons too (The Guildford Hotel). The two dodgy brothers tried to get away with demolishing it but didn't count on the locals being to vocal. I hope to god it gets restored sooner or later. You just have to look at the Woody and The Rose and Crown to see some of the other beautiful pubs around that area. Not so much the Stirling Arms though...that's the only time I've felt in danger for being beaten for being an Australian whilst in Australia.

 

[External Inputs]

Look at what's happening with one of Guildford's cherished icons too (The Guildford Hotel). The two dodgy brothers tried to get away with demolishing it but didn't count on the locals being to vocal. I hope to god it gets restored sooner or later. You just have to look at the Woody and The Rose and Crown to see some of the other beautiful pubs around that area. Not so much the Stirling Arms though...that's the only time I've felt in danger for being beaten for being an Australian whilst in Australia.

I worked in Midland years ago, and they were all pretty dodgy and run down then, I'm glad some have seen a change for the better. Having a bit of experience with renovating old buildings, I hate to think how much it'll cost to restore the Guildford Hotel from just the facade it is now. I doubt it was insured for enough to complete such a task back when the fire happened, let alone now. Back when it was built, wood was cheap and available in large sizes, now so much is hard to get and is priced accordingly. I don't envy whoever takes the job on, if in fact it ever happens.