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Perth-based developer Human Urban is poised to transform the Elders Wool Stores at Freemantle into a $110 million mixed-use project and reactivate a rundown area of the city’s waterfront.
The proposal will deliver 39 town homes and apartments as well as a food and dining precinct while introducing a major new commercial offering to the city’s waterfront precinct.
A development application has been lodged by Human Urban (H-U), a company led by Western Australian developers Adrian Fini, Rowan Clarke and Kyle Jeavons.
Fini is also co-founder of Hesperia, a WA developer that was former through the merger of Fini Group with Ben Lisle’s Linc Property. Clarke and Jeavons were part of the Hesperia leadership team.
H-U aims to “sensitively repurpose” the two wool stores structures as part of a heritage redevelopment on a scale that the company says has not been seen in Perth since the completion of the State Buildings project more than a decade ago.
Elders Wool Stores has been abandoned for more than 40 years and comprises a 1927 four-storey brick, timber and steel structure state heritage-listed building to the south and a larger 1950s-built structure to the north.
H-U acquired the property in early 2022 and has spent the past two years investigating development options for the site, in collaboration with Fremantle architects Spaceagency.
“Throughout our design process we have always understood that this project is uniquely Fremantle, and we have a special responsibility to make sure our plans benefit the city and make a major contribution to reactivating this part of the CBD for future generations,” says H-U director Kyle Jeavons.
H-U plans to restore the 1927 building and add three storeys which will boost the structure to seven levels.
The façades of the other building will largely be retained, although the plan includes elevating the building by one to two storeys.
“An internal and heavily landscaped ‘mews’ style street will be an important feature for the new residential community within the 1950s footprint,” says H-U.
When completed, the Elders Wool Stores will deliver a “highly sophisticated mix of residential, commercial, retail and food and beverage offerings, including completely new living options for WA”.
The residential offering comprises six three-level town homes built into the original heritage façade, as well as 33 boutique apartments featuring one and two-bedroom designs, as well as three penthouses of three bedrooms each.
Elders Wool Stores also will introduce co-living to the Fremantle market for the first time. This will comprise 174 architecturally designed units operating as a centralised rental model that focuses on creating a community through flexible leasing arrangements, large communal recreation zones including kitchens, dining areas, breakout zones, wellness opportunities and work-from-home spaces.
Restaurants, cafes, bars and small retailers will occupy the ground floor of the heritage structure, which H-U says will encourage activation along Elder Place Spur and Cantonment Street.
The developer is aiming to model the project on the reactivated State Buildings which it says has created a “must-visit destination in Perth CBD”.
The development will also include more than 6,600sqm of commercial space with H-U anticipating strong interest from Freemantle businesses, particularly those in the maritime, defence and industrial sectors operating south of the city.
H-U is currently in the process of selecting a builder for the project with construction expected to start in the first quarter of 2026, pending approvals. Completion is expected in mid-2028.
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