Neighbours of former luxury East Perth hotel ‘blindsided’ by government’s purchase

Queens Riverside residents say they were blindsided by news on Thursday that the WA government had made its biggest single purchase of social and affordable housing in the state’s history after buying the Fraser Suites tower for $105 million.

The 19-storey tower comprises 236 luxury apartments and 11 commercial suites, all of which will now be converted into long-term social and affordable housing.

Fraser Suites has been purchased by the WA government.Credit: Hamish Hastie

About 20 residents of neighbouring apartment buildings gathered at the base of the former hotel on Thursday morning ahead of Housing and Works Minister John Carey and Acting Premier Rita Saffioti staging a press conference to make the announcement.

Long-time Queens Riverside resident Ben Stephenson accused the government of keeping residents in the dark about such a significant purchase.

“We thought it was going to be either aged care or some other type of social housing, which we don’t have an issue with social housing, but we are families that have a concern with anti-social behaviours and other criminal activities out of the byproduct of social housing,” he said.

Stephenson said the city needed more social housing, but it should be spread out.

“It needs to be spread out and there needs to be controls in place,” he said.

“There’s more than one stakeholder than the state government. There’s local government, there’s local community groups, there’s a lot of other people they need to consult before making big changes to affect everyday life of people that live around this area.”

Stephenson said residents were also concerned about the impact that the new building would have on parking in the area and

Carey did not meet with the waiting residents but moved to allay their concerns by saying the building would be majority affordable housing, likely around 70 per cent, as it is in other developments.

He said East Perth had just 3.2 per cent social housing, compared to other suburbs like Highgate, which has 11 per cent and Karawara, which has 20 per cent.

Queens Riverside residents after hearing the luxury hotel next door Fraser Suites would be converted to public housing.Credit: Hamish Hastie

“So actually, East Perth as a precinct has relatively lower levels of public housing than other communities, even in my own electorate,” he said.

“We’ve got to integrate social and affordable rentals ... across all communities.

Carey also rejected criticism he had blindsided residents and said it was a commercial in confidence process that he couldn’t talk about until the deal had settled.

“I was limited in what I could say, but at the first opportunity, which is right now, I think it’s settled an hour ago, I’m making this announcement,” he said.

“Can I be very clear as a matter of policy, there is not consultation before a purchase for housing, and for the simple reason is this, as soon as you signal that the government is interested in purchasing a building ... [the] price goes up.”

In response to parking concerns, Carey said people moving into the building would be aware of the parking situation.

“We’re in the middle of the city. We’ve got CAT bus services, public bus services. I mean, you’re making it sound like we’re in the middle of Timbuktu and there’s no access to anything,” he said.

“We are in the heart of the city.”

The project will be managed by a community housing provider, which Carey said would be appointed by the end of the year with residents moving in shortly after.

The building’s pool and gym and other public amenities will be turned into storage and there will need to be some conversion of apartments to make them suitable for tenants.

Acting Premier Rita Saffioti.Credit: Hamish Hastie

Carey would not reveal what that would cost but said even with conversion costs it would be good value for money for taxpayers.

He revealed that the purchase of the building also came with furnishings like beds.

“The purchase and repurposing of this complex will provide a critical affordable and social housing boost in an area of high-demand and high amenity.”

Fraser Suites was one of Perth’s most luxurious offerings when the five-star hotel opened as part of the Queens Riverside precinct in 2013.

As late as the middle of last year the hotel lobby and restaurant offerings were completely refurbished.

Anglicare WA acting chief executive Philippa Boldy welcomed the news.

“Converting Fraser Suites from short-stay accommodation into safe and affordable housing is a welcome move from the WA Government and a much-needed boost to accessible housing stock,” she said.

“Accessible housing should be a feature of every Western Australian community, and we welcome the government’s leadership in investing in a property of this scale in Perth’s CBD, close to amenities, services and supports.”

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