{"id":106599,"date":"2025-08-30T11:11:09","date_gmt":"2025-08-30T11:11:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/106599\/"},"modified":"2025-08-30T11:11:09","modified_gmt":"2025-08-30T11:11:09","slug":"massive-25m-makeover-to-transform-dingy-east-victoria-park-into-lively-hospitality-destination","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/106599\/","title":{"rendered":"Massive $25m makeover to transform dingy East Victoria Park into lively hospitality destination"},"content":{"rendered":"

A disused and \u201cdingy\u201d pocket in inner suburban Perth is set for a $25 million makeover with another mega-hospitality precinct moving in.<\/p>\n

Showing there\u2019s still more appetite for bars and licensed venues, the brains behind The Leederville Hotel\u2019s redevelopment are now headed to East Victoria Park, where the local council has ticked off on what\u2019s being called a family-friendly \u201clifestyle precinct\u201d.<\/p>\n

The new Baillie Hill project aims to revitalise an underused and underwhelming Elizabeth Baillie House on Hill View Terrace, along the Albany Highway.<\/p>\n

The hospitality lineup features a cafe, a gelato shop, childcare centre, and two main venues: Milly\u2019s \u2014 a family-friendly spot with breakfast, lunch and kids\u2019 play areas \u2014 and The Berwick Bar & Kitchen, described as \u201ca classic local drinking hall\u201d with a front bar, sports, pool tables and a bistro.<\/p>\n

Hospitality operating partner of the project Carl Leembruggen said Elizabeth Baillie Park was \u201cvery dull and dingy\u201d with \u201cnothing going on\u201d, so once he saw some action beginning at the site, he had to jump on board.<\/p>\n

This \u201clifestyle precinct\u201d located at WA\u2019s<\/a> first specialist maternity hospital, allows people not only to able to enjoy a variety of hospitality venues, like traditional hubs, but rejuvenate, re-energise, and reconnect with friends while your \u201clittle ones can scurry around\u201d, he said.<\/p>\n

\"BaillieCamera IconBaillie Hill revitalisation. Credit: Supplied<\/p>\n

The Town of Victoria Park is also redeveloping parts of the park.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe town council is also renovating and redeveloping the actual park into an amphitheatre for events, a brand new playground and public toilets, and brand new landscaping with new tree plantings to go in,\u201d Mr Leembruggen said.<\/p>\n

\u201cEventually there\u2019s also going to be a pedestrianised thoroughfare that connects the park to Oak Street train station.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Leembruggen said this will also provide more of a \u201cconnective tissue\u201d between Victoria Park and Optus Stadium on game days.<\/p>\n

Australian Hotels Association WA chief executive Bradley Woods said Perth was experiencing a clear increase in purpose-built hospitality hubs, each \u201cdesigned to elevate food, drink and entertainment\u201d and to have a steady appeal for locals and visitors.<\/p>\n

\u201cYagan Square\u2019s revitalisation and the planned Baillie Hill in East Victoria Park are part of a broader trend that includes existing precincts such as Elizabeth Quay, The Beaufort and Fremantle\u2019s FOMO,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Where once small bars flooded the market \u2014 thanks in large part to relaxed rules more than a decade ago \u2014 larger precincts have now well and truly taken off.<\/p>\n

Mr Woods said independent venues could develop a \u201chighly individual identity\u201d and adapt quickly to trends and foster deep customer loyalty, while \u201chospitality precincts\u201d had a way of turning into destinations on their own, a place where both locals and tourists feel like they \u201chave to\u201d visit.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe trade-off is that competition can be fierce, operating costs may be higher, and the fortunes of each venue can be tied to the precinct\u2019s overall success,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe mix of venues creates a buzz and energy that\u2019s hard for a single operator to match, driving strong foot traffic and making shared events or promotions more effective.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Leembruggen is also general manager of the Leederville Precinct, which enjoyed its own \u201cprecinct\u201d glow-up in 2021. He said that for the operators, the secret wasn\u2019t competition but collaboration.<\/p>\n

\u201cHigh tides raise all boats,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cA hospitality precinct doesn\u2019t really talk about the four walls that encapsulate my operational sites; it captures the entire Leederville Village Square \u2014 looking at Leederville more as a food, beverage, and entertainment hub.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need other people and other tenants to do well within the village square, that way more people come to visit hospitality precincts.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re all fighting against each other, then it\u2019s not going to really do much good.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Leembruggen said the Leederville precinct, made up of four venues, offers a range of options for people searching for different experiences.<\/p>\n

\u201cServo is open on the weekends for breakfast, and it\u2019s more around that all-day hedonism, the Garden is just a nice, beautiful outdoor landscape oasis, the Leederville Hotel is your classic Australiana sports pub, at the Red Room nightclub keeps the energy going into the night,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"TheCamera IconThe Leederville Precinct General Manager Carl Leembruggen pictured in The Leederville Hotel. Credit: Carwyn Monck\/The West Australian<\/p>\n

Success is measured in precinct-wide appeal, he said. \u201cI think it\u2019s a great meeting place.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cEven if you weren\u2019t planning on having dinner at any of our establishments and you were going to go to say Pichos or Sienna\u2019s, it\u2019s quite common for people to go \u2014 \u2018Oh, how about we meet at The Garden first for a drink?\u2019 and then we\u2019ll mosey down the street?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe sooner precincts or the people within them learn how to work together to tell a story\u2026 the better they\u2019re all going to do,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, it\u2019s a win every time someone gets dropped off into Leederville instead of Mount Lawley or Subiaco.\u201d<\/p>\n

He hopes this success can be replicated in East Victoria Park.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe hope that our precinct can also do the rest of the park justice in bringing people and residents together,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t just want it to be a destination venue, but a place to come out and experience the site, regardless of whether or not you live within the area.\u201d<\/p>\n

This philosophy drives everything from pricing to community engagement.<\/p>\n

\u201cVibrancy in the precinct, especially morning footfall, is extremely important to my business,\u201d Mr Leembruggen said.<\/p>\n

Events include Christmas kids\u2019 tree parties, Second Life markets, silent discos \u2014 including kids\u2019 raves \u2014 and plans to pedestrianise Oxford Street on weekends in summer.<\/p>\n

Mr Woods said big and small operators had a place in the hospitality scene.<\/p>\n

\u201cBoth will grow, large precincts appeal to investors and can transform whole neighbourhoods, while small bars cater to patrons seeking intimacy, creativity and unique experiences.<\/p>\n

\u201cPerth\u2019s hospitality market is diverse enough to support both models, and many customers happily enjoy both.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A disused and \u201cdingy\u201d pocket in inner suburban Perth is set for a $25 million makeover with another…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":106600,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[43,44,46,41,39,42,40,45],"class_list":{"0":"post-106599","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-perth","11":"tag-top-news","12":"tag-top-stories","13":"tag-topnews","14":"tag-topstories","15":"tag-wa-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106599","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=106599"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106599\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/106600"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=106599"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=106599"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=106599"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}