Perth’s first comprehensive inner-city university has opened, with thousands of students expected to inject vibrancy and life into the CBD and provide an economic boost for local businesses.
Three years after construction began, Edith Cowan University has relocated from Mount Lawley to Yagan Square, opposite the city’s entertainment and hospitality hub.
With a $853 million price tag, funded by the university and the state and federal governments, the state-of-the-art campus spans 65,000 square metres across 11 levels.
The main foyer of the campus features one of the southern hemisphere’s largest indoor LED displays. (ABC News: Kenith Png )
As well as business, law and technology facilities, the centrepiece is the renowned Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA), with 300 performances a year planned across eight public venues.
“This campus is not only going to provide an opportunity for young people to study in the city, it’s going to provide an opportunity for the city to come alive, it’s going to give us an opportunity to really support the economy of the CBD,” WA Premier Roger Cook said.
The new campus is expected to revitalise the city. (Supplied: Edith Cowan University)
How many people will it bring to the city?
Around 8,500 students and staff will be based at the ECU city campus from semester one, but that number is expected to grow to 10,000.
“Having a city campus with a student population can drive vitality, vibrancy and life,” Member for Perth John Carey said.
“ECU City Campus will create a new beating heart for our city, bringing in thousands of students, an incredible live music and art scene with all the performances and fuel a student housing boom.
“We will see students every day spill out into the city, provide that critical foot traffic to support small businesses day and night and of course we know this ECU City Campus is fuelling more residential population.”
(L – R) John Carey, Rita Saffioti, Roger Cook, ECU Vice-Chancellor Clare Pollock and Federal Member for Perth Patrick Gorman at the opening. (ABC News: Kenith Png )
Economics professor Steven Rowley said the beauty of the ECU campus was its easy access for commuters on public transport.
However, he warned more people in the city could mean higher rents for businesses.
“I’d be a little bit concerned if I was a local business, there might be pressure on retail rents in that local area, given the amount of potential increased trade,” he said.
Where will the students live?
The state government boasts the ECU campus will be a “world-class” university which will attract international students.
But given Perth’s unrelenting housing crisis, with demand for rentals outstripping supply, and affordability at an all-time low, where exactly will they live?
Mr Carey highlighted the recently completed UniLodge on Wellington Street in the CBD, a 30-level student housing development which holds more than 700 beds.
He said more student accommodation was in the pipeline, including a proposed 33-storey tower at Kings Square in the CBD, which would hold 854 beds.
Demand for student accommodation is currently outstripping supply. (ABC News: Kenith Png )
Professor Rowley, who is from Curtin University, said students could struggle to find somewhere to live, with purpose built student accommodation ranging from $400 – $800 a week.
He said ECU students would be competing with students from WA’s other universities for Perth’s roughly 2,500 student beds.
Property analyst Gavin Hegney said Perth was in a “lag period” where construction needed to catch up to demand.
The ECU city campus sits above the Perth busport. (ABC News: Kenith Png )
“If you look at the numbers of students that are coming into Perth and you look at the number of accommodation units that are provided, there’s still a shortfall which means that the rental market is going to have to pick up some of the slack, ” he said.
“Universities have got people lining up to study in Perth but the accommodation is probably the weak and costly point at the moment.”
The state-of-the-art campus has 11 levels. (ABC News: Kenith Png )
What happened to the asbestos issue?
Late last year asbestos was discovered in 14 of the building’s fire doors, believed to have been imported from overseas.
The building received an exemption from work health and safety regulations to allow it to open and ECU said at the time it was assured by builder Multiplex that the asbestos was not a risk.
“The material is fully encapsulated in sealed steel doors. Multiplex has confirmed there is no risk to human health and WorkSafe has approved the planned remediation, including replacing the affected doors,” a spokesperson said.
ECU said it planned to replace the doors during semester breaks this year.
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