Property Council of Australia (WA) deputy director Lino Iacomella was the keynote speaker at the City of Joondalup’s business breakfast at the Joondalup Resort in Connolly.
The breakfast was titled ‘Billion Dollar City’, a reference to the amount of development currently under way and approved for the Joondalup city centre.
Mr Iacomella said the almost 80,000 people moving to WA each year provided an opportunity for Joondalup and the north-west region.
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READ NOWJoondalup will live and die by the extent by which it can attract this population growth to the region,’ he said.
‘It is a competition between centres around Perth to attract this growth, and Joondalup is certainly well placed in this race.’
He said the low rate of vacancy in office space in Perth ” less than 6 per cent ” was another opportunity for Joondalup to attract business north from the CBD.
‘We are entering a time of tightening in the commercial office space market and this provides an opportunity for regional centres like Joondalup,’ he said.
Joondalup chief executive Garry Hunt said local governments had an important role to play in supporting economic development. ‘The council is pro quality development, not just pro development,’ he said.