Upham Street apartments: $150 million triple high-rise apartment block in Subiaco gets tick of approval

A $150 million triple-tower apartment complex in Subiaco has been approved by WA’s peak planning body despite a significant backlash from the community. On Wednesday, the WA Planning Commission’s Statutory Planning Committee greenlit the multi-million dollar project Verde Subiaco by Cedar Woods. Sitting on a 9784sqm site at 2 Upham Street, the complex is set to deliver 236 units across three high-rise buildings of seven, nine and 12 storeys. Cedar Woods managing director Nathan Blackburne said the project would help deliver much-needed new housing in one of Perth’s most sought-after locations. “With Perth’s population continuing to grow and REIWA forecasting a 15 to 20 per cent increase in median unit prices, well-located apartments like Verde Subiaco will play an increasingly important role in the city’s housing mix and bringing forward much needed supply,” Mr Blackburne said. The apartments will be a mix of one, two and three-bedrooms, with 322 residential parking bays, 162 bicycle bays and 236 storerooms. It will also include a residential swimming pool, communal dining and lounge spaces, a landscaped resident garden and a ground-floor café, which will be open to residents and the public. The project went out to community consultation late last year and received a total of 162 submissions. An overwhelming majority of 87 per cent of respondents opposed the development. Only 20 per cent were in support of the apartment complex. The City of Subiaco and the Town of Cambridge both opposed the development, citing its scale and departures from the local planning framework as reasons against the project. The Upham Street complex will joining another neighbouring apartment complex, Incontro, which is also being developed by Cedar Woods. Situated at the corner of Salvado Road and Bishop Street, the development is under construction and set to open mid-2027, with more than 80 per cent of its apartments already sold. Mr Blackburne said Incontro’s success so far reflects a “renewed momentum” in the apartment sector.