Developers share plans for $110 million redevelopment of Fremantle’s long-abandoned Wool Stores

The future of a Fremantle icon has been revealed, with exciting new plans to bring a heritage-listed warehouse back to life.

The Elders Wool Stores building has been gathering dust for the past four decades, but developers Human Urban (H-U) have shared what it could look like in the years to come.

The century-old structure will be refurbished with a mix of gloss and grit, home to boutique apartments, luxury office spaces, bars and cafes… along with preserved graffiti art, scrawled on the long abandoned walls.

The inside of the Wool Stores is incredible – a little dusty and a little spooky perhaps, but this adds to the charm, with graffiti covering the walls and a ground floor lined with jarrah columns, part of the original build in 1927.

“The 1920s building has these magnificent large columns that give it the structure for its pre-industrial time,” H-U Director Kyle Jeavons said. “I think everyone in Perth has driven past this…everyone knows it but it’s been locked up for 40 years, so not everyone has seen these buildings inside, which are quite
extraordinary.”

The high-end development company has spent two years working on the $110-million plan.

And in (mostly) good news for the skate community and Fremantle’s history in general, local skateboarders have convinced developers to retain most of the world famous skate ledge.

“All the facades will be maintained, the 1920s building stays as it is,” Mr Jeavons added. “The majority of the existing skate ledge will be also retained, except for the sections which need to be removed, to reinstate the original heritage building openings.”

In one of WA’s biggest heritage redevelopments, the four-storey building will be transformed and another three levels will be added.

It will contain three townhouses, 33 luxury apartments and 174 self-contained rental units with shared facilities, in a new style of living called “co-living,” growing in popularity around the world.

“I think the starting price for the smaller units will be around the $800,000 mark,” Mr Jeavons revealed. “And then we go to the penthouses which are really large and unique in scale and we haven’t priced those yet.”

Key materials will also be reused and repurposed.

“To have the opportunity to bring this back to life is something we take very seriously,” Development Manager Corey Scidone said.

“We are looking at documenting all the graffiti that sits inside here and we are looking a couple of strategies to see whether or not we can retain some. There will obviously be sections of the wall that need repairing so sadly some of those sections will go.”

Mr Jeavons said there would be no comparable development in Perth, and the project similar to the huge warehouse makeovers, typically found in major cities across the US and UK.

“Throughout our design process we have always understood that this project is uniquely Fremantle. We have a special responsibility to make sure our plans benefit the City and make major contribution to re-activating this part for future generations.”

Former Fremantle Mayor and current Greens MLC Brad Pettit welcomed the news.

“The proposal by H-U with spaceagency: architects ticks many boxes including keeping much of the heritage fabric of the 1927 and 1950s warehouses as well as the iconic skate rail,” he said on Meta. “Importantly it’ll also provide diverse housing downtown Fremantle in a part of town calling out for it.”

The approval process and pre-sale campaign is next, if it gets the green light, construction should start early next year, to be finished by mid-2028.

Image Credit: Lee Steele (interiors) / Supplied (renders)