Elders Wool Stores Redevelopment - The Future Revealed

Human Urban, or H-U for short, the proponent of the proposed $110m redevelopment of the heritage-listed Elders Wool Stores building that spans Elder Place and Goldsborough and Cantonment Streets in the East End of Fremantle, has today revealed details of what it says will be WA’s biggest heritage redevelopment since the impressive State Buildings project was completed in Perth more than a decade ago.

Artist’s impression of the Elders Wool Stores in Fremantle. Supplied

News of the redevelopment was presaged in early 2022, when the Adrian Fini and Kyle Jeavons led proponent acquired the derelict building and announced plans to reactivate it and the surrounding locality. Fini amd Jeavons were also the team that oversaw the State Buildings project.

H-U, in outlining its proposal today, say it will bring to Fremantle ‘exciting hospitality outlets, new residential living and a significant commercial space’.

The Elders Wool Stores has been sitting doing nothing for an awfully long time. It ceased its original use more than 40 years ago and has lain vacant since with minimal maintenance and upkeep. The four-storey brick, timber and steel structure consists of a 1927 state heritage-listed building on the southern end of the site, with a larger 1950s addition to the north.

If you wander inside the 1927 portion of the building, as the Shipping News was invited to do recently for this story, you get to marvel at the repurposing possibilities of the site that the proponent wishes to accentuate.

Elders Wool Stores 1927 heritage-listed portion ground floor. Credit Fremantle Shipping News

Elders Wool Stores was purchased by the proponent in February 2022 and the redevelopment team has spent two years investigating a wide range of options for the site to deliver the greatest long-term benefit for Fremantle; in terms of the project’s capacity to positively influence residential, business and visitor activity in the port city by extending activity in the popular CBD area further to the east.

Kyle Jeavons said that the sheer scale of the Elders Wool Stores building and its strategically important location in Freo’s city centre meant that there would be no comparable development in Perth metro, and the project was most comparable to adaptive re-use projects typically found in major cities across Europe and the United States like Sydney, Melbourne, London and New York, that had a larger legacy of industrial buildings.

Artist’s impression of the Elders Wool Stores viewed from Elder Place. Supplied

After initially collaborating with multiple leading Western Australian and interstate architectural firms on various concepts, H-U said it ultimately chose a ‘local’ approach to the site by working with renowned Fremantle architects, spaceagency, due to their extensive track record with heritage projects and ability to fully understand the social significance of the site in the port city’s rich history.

The 1927 building will be retained and restored with three distinct additional storeys added to a total of seven levels. The façades of the 1950s structure will largely be retained and elevated by one to two storeys from their existing height with key materials then being re-used and re-purposed throughout the redevelopment. An internal and heavily landscaped ‘mews’ style street will be an important feature for the new residential community within the 1950s footprint.

‘The Mews’ – a landscaped internal street designed as a communal multi- use path through the 1950s section of the building. Supplied

There can be little doubt that the Elders Wool Stores proposal just revealed represents, as H-U suggests, a highly sophisticated mix of residential, commercial, retail and food and beverage offerings, including completely new living options for WA.

In making today’s big reveal, H-U emphasise the ‘unique and last-chance residential opportunity’ that the project offers. It reasonably suggests the Elders Wool Stores will likely be the last opportunity in Perth or Fremantle to acquire an original industrial-style apartment in a building of this scale and legacy in Western Australia. As a younger city, the Perth metro area simply does not have the stock of redundant heritage warehouse buildings to be re-purposed compared with cities that were bigger prior to the second world war.

Urban greening and landscaping will enhance the site while supporting future and existing operators. Artist’s impression of the Elders Wool Stores from Cantonment Street. Supplied

The redevelopment will offer a bespoke and limited mix of ‘residential products’ including six exclusive three level town homes built into the original heritage façade, as well as 33 boutique apartments comprising:
• 7 x 1 bedroom
• 8 x 2 bedroom
• 15 x 3 bedroom
• 3 x 3 bedroom penthouse

H-U further highlights what it calls the ‘co-living’ features of the project. Co-living is explained as a ‘globally emerging housing type that is reinventing the rental model by focusing on building communities, connection and convenience’.

A detailed glimpse of the co-living façade at the Elders Wool Stores. Supplied

The co-living component will consist of 174 architecturally designed units operating as a centralised rental model that focuses on creating a community through:
• Large communal recreation zones including kitchens, dining areas, breakout zones, wellness opportunities and WFH spaces
• A curated calendar of social events and activations for residents – all included within the rental structure
• Flexible leasing arrangements to suit local residents, students, visitors
• Centrally managed and curated by a single operator.

Seems to us that, adding all these residential and commercial spaces together, the Wool Stores is likely to create a significant new East End population. There could be around 250+ new Freo folk living in the new Wool Stores. And then there is likely to be another 200+ residents in the nearby, now approved Point Street apartment development, producing close to 500 residents in this new East End precinct. Then if you add the office workers turning up Monday to Friday to their new offices in the Wool Stores, suddenly the East End numbers swell and provide the grounds for a quiet confidence that the Wool Stores really can help to reactivate and rejuvenate this slightly sleepy East End of town.

H-U also identify the hospitality and retail opportunities the project offers. Restaurants, cafes, bars and small retailers are expected to occupy the ground floor of the heritage structure encouraging activation along Elder Place Spur and Cantonment Street. H-U says this is a similar redevelopment model to the one that has so successfully re-activated the State Buildings and turned it into a must-visit destination in Perth CBD.

Artist’s impression of the Elders Wool Stores from Cantonment Street. Supplied

The ground floor activations will all be publicly accessible and will help to reinvigorate the area of Fremantle around the building by encouraging local residents and visitors to explore beyond the historic West End, and enjoy an exciting new destination featuring:
• Tavern
• Café
• Restaurant
• Small Retail Outlets.

Finally, H-U draws attention to the significant commercial office space offering the proposal represents for the Fremantle CBD, and all within the state heritage-listed Elders Wool Stores, a building that preserves its ‘unique, nearly 100-year old character, and WA’s social, industrial and agricultural history’.

A wide range of tenant interest is expected from within Fremantle and its surrounding commercial centres, seeking access to amenity and public transport, ‘particularly from companies associated with the growing number of maritime, defence or industrial activities south of the city’.

The development will feature a refurbished 6,600m2+ state listed heritage-listed office. Supplied

With more than 6,600m2 of bespoke workspace available, H-U observe Elders Wool Stores will offer ‘a unique working environment featuring the exposed original timber beams, columns and soffits of the heritage structure, along with a third-floor garden terrace situated behind the original stucco heritage parapet’.

The H-U team says it has, and will continue to work closely with the City of Fremantle and stakeholders to significantly revive and improve the surrounding streetscapes.

The H-U team is also at pains to emphasise that it has worked collaboratively with many Fremantle stakeholders for the past two years and has welcomed and greatly appreciated the strong interest and support of the community and the City of Fremantle in the project.

Skateboarding at Woolies ledge. Credit Fremantle Shipping News

One of the important collaborations, that Fremantle Shipping News has highlighted over the past couple years, has been with the Freo skateboarding community for whom retention of the famous Woolies ledge became a big issue. We reported last August how H-U had undertaken to retain the ledge, all things being equal. We are pleased to report we are advised 80% of the ledge stays under the proposal now revealed by H-U.

Zachary Tilghman of the Woolstores Forever Committee of the West Australian Skateboarding Association has told Shipping News how incredibly pleased with and grateful the skateboarders are that H-U has made several large-scale changes to their project to include the skateboarders. Zach says that H-U are setting a precedent for community inclusion and engagement with the Elders Wool Stores site. He adds that: ‘A cohesive mixed-use space that respects all future stakeholders will not come without challenges, but their collaborative approach and continued willingness to work openly and honestly with WASA has paved the way for a bright future for generations of Western Australian Skateboarders to come.’

The Elders Wool Stores proposal will now go through the planning approval process, but it has to be said the future revealed by H-U today is likely to find favour with many Freo people.

H-U is in the process of appointing a leading building company and, pending approval and a pre-sale campaign, construction is anticipated to commence during the first quarter of 2026 and be complete mid-year 2028.

We look forward to reporting to you in due course on the details of H-U’s Development Application as it goes through the approval process.

As an aside, many Freo people will know that H-U’s Adrian Fini is no stranger to Fremantle and has been involved in a number of well known Freo projects. Quite separate from this proposal, he is known for his involvement in the popular eateries Bread in Common and Coogee Common, and with the heritage residential redevelopment at 49 Phillimore Street, as well as for his hospitality collaborations Ode to Sirens, Vin Populi and Common Bakery. We understand he also has plans for the former P&O Hotel. This project though, assuming approval and completion, may well be Adrian Fini’s crowning Freo achievement.

* By Michael Barker, Editor, Fremantle Shipping News

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