Wanneroo councillors considered a report on the scope for work for the multi-storey expansion on May 26 and endorsed a recommendation to limit the centre to three storeys rather than six.
“The original concept endorsed by council on March 3, 2014, was the construction of a two-storey building with provision to extend it to a total of six storeys in the future,” the report said.
It said realty consultant CBRE had since reviewed the concept and said Wanneroo was a secondary centre, rather than a strategic metropolitan centre like Joondalup or Yanchep, where tenants were more likely to locate themselves.
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READ NOW“Commercial buildings in the Joondalup town centre are able to be constructed to a maximum height level of six storeys, as initially proposed for the Wanneroo Civic Centre,” the report said.
“Given the secondary centre classification of the Wanneroo town site, the scope of the Wanneroo Civic Centre expansion should be reduced in total to half that applicable to Joondalup.”
It said the expansion should initially have two storeys, with an option to add a lightweight floor over the rooftop garden.
The report said the base building cost would be lower and the smaller scope would help it meet a higher environmental rating.
At Tuesday’s special council meeting, councillors approved $4 million for the expansion in its 2015-16 budget, plus $344,142 carried forward.
A timeline of works indicated that the City would advertise a design tender on June 6, then award the contract in July, and advertise the building tender in January, 2016.
It anticipated construction would start in late March, 2016, and finish in October, 2017.
The new building would be north of the existing civic centre.
A multi-level carpark would be built on the eastern side of the carpark.