![\"French](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/8f6cc45fdd4ccf0b639a51ff458fe4b6c58346d2.jpg\")
Camera IconFrench artist AERO completed his artwork addition to the Piazza last week, depicting the story of the Batavia and the legacy of the \u2018Defenders\u2019. Credit: Luke Latty<\/p>\nFremantle is getting its own arts district, in the style of a part of London\u2019s famous Covent Garden, under the new ownership of an Perth-born now, New York-based businesswoman.<\/p>\n
Bronwyn Owen spent $12.5 million buying Fremantle\u2019s Piazza in September last year and already has the wheels turning on a massive re-invigoration of the long-neglected public space.<\/p>\n
She told Perth Now she was inspired to flip dormant spaces into social, artsy hubs for the local community to thrive in, much like Neal\u2019s Yard in London\u2019s famous Covent Garden, which could incorporate a new children\u2019s museum, cooking school and gallery.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wanted to give the community a space and bring the artists to the forefront. This will be the Piazza Arts District, and we\u2019re going to have a very prominent message on one of the walls that says \u2018art lives here\u2019,\u201d said Ms Owen, who grew up in Kelmscott.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m hoping we\u2019ll get a whole bunch of (artists) here, international and local, and we\u2019ll be supporting a lot of upcoming artists, because you really need to have the community involved.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sitting at the heart of the bustling Cappuccino Strip for more than 40 years, the once vibrant Piazza has fallen into neglect as previous owners deliberated what to do with it.<\/p>\n
Its new owner plans to open up the Piazza roof, revegetate the space with greenery, and introduce cobblestones to elevate the area into a European-style courtyard, occupied by a range of new tenants.<\/p>\n
Camera IconFrench artist AERO completed his artwork addition to the Piazza last week, depicting the story of the Batavia and the legacy of the \u2018Defenders\u2019. Credit: Luke Latty<\/p>\n
She wants to embrace creativity and youth in her redevelopments, and started setting the tone with some large-scale public art murals. Bordalo II, from Portugal, and French artist AERO have most recently installed large-scale projects. Locally-based mural artist Jerome Davenport completed a work last month.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy art comes from the graffiti of the 90s, and the street has always been my favourite playground,\u201d AERO said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI like the idea that expression and art can be accessible to everyone in this way.\u201d<\/p>\n
Future plans include an interactive children\u2019s museum, bakery, cooking school and art gallery, with plenty of hospitality and retail small business pop ups.<\/p>\n
Ms Owen hopes commercial ventures placed outside will pay for a community-focused interior.<\/p>\n
\u201cSouth Terrace is a very busy strip, and that will probably stay commercial because I need to get revenue to pay for everything we\u2019re doing,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
On the Piazza\u2019s top level, IDEA Academy has already moved in, operating as an innovative and flexible education option that Ms Owen said will invite foot flow into the space for everything else.<\/p>\n
![\"Private](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/bf8b136373ec080abaa5a978ce47cb0091b25860.jpg\")
Camera IconPrivate buyer Bronwyn Owen is the new owner fixing up Fremantle’s Piazza. Credit: LUKE LATTY<\/p>\n
\u201cOver time, they\u2019ll have about 150 kids here hopefully buzzing around. I really want to do a grassroots bakery and cooking school, and we can have our own herbs and plantings similar to when you go to Rome or Venice,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe museum is going to be based on the Children\u2019s Museum of the Arts in New York, which is an incredible community space. Freo does have the arts centre and the Maritime Museum, but I think we need a destination for kids.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want it to be accessible and equitable, so not just rich people can afford it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ms Owen said her management team would always be on the look out for short-term tenants looking for a pop-up opportunity, with the potential to transition them into long-term sustainable tenants if they were successful and want to stay.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of cross-building opportunities. For example, you\u2019ve got Not Random Magazines down there, and if we had an amazing coffee offering at some point, it would make sense to pair those … I think we\u2019re stronger when we\u2019re working together,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Ms Owen, who worked her way from Perth to be the international head of the investment group, The Children\u2019s Investment\u2019s fund management on New York\u2019s famous financial strip, said she had a keen interest in WA\u2019s progression.<\/p>\n
\u201cOther developers here in Freo that are all very commercially savvy couldn\u2019t make the numbers work, because they\u2019re looking at it from a typical real estate perspective,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m a bit different, because I\u2019m on Wall Street, so I was looking at it from more of a social community viewpoint.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Piazza comprises 36 tenancies. Before it was sold last year, 35 per cent of the tenancies were leased to generate a net annual income of about $182,444. But Ms Owen said the site\u2019s real value was in its potential.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m leaning into what\u2019s here. I\u2019m not bulldozing anything, I think over time it will become a family-friendly destination for young people to enjoy,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI love Freo, I think people want to have a reason to come to Freo and bring their kids. Freo is not just vape shops and convenience stores.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are working with existing tenants to evolve the offering in some cases. We are keeping people here, but we all have to be aligned with what we\u2019re doing.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Piazza redevelopment team have been working alongside other business owners and the City of Fremantle to keep the momentum going strong, in the hope the economic benefits will spill over into other local areas.<\/p>\n
The space will constantly evolve with a circuit of tenants and visitors, but Ms Owen hopes the main redevelopments will be complete by the end of the year.<\/p>\n
City of Fremantle director of city business Matt Hammond told PerthNow the investment was an exciting sign for Fremantle\u2019s future.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe city has been working closely with the owner of South Terrace Piazza and their team via our investment concierge program, which exists to provide support to investors and property owners when navigating city processes,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe investment into the Piazza has been welcomed by the city and is a credit to the owner of the property, who has prioritised and invested in local grassroots activation ideas and programming, resulting in new life being breathed back into the much-loved Freo landmark.\u201d<\/p>\n
This project is occurring alongside several other public and private investments in Fremantle. For example, the former Hungry Jacks site recently received development approval for a three-storey tavern, and Point Street carpark will close so that work can begin on new student accommodation.<\/p>\n
\u201cFremantle thrives when our spaces are activated and welcoming. A refreshed Piazza has the potential to draw people into the city centre, support local caf\u00e9s and retailers and create more opportunities for community events and performances,\u201d Fremantle Chamber chief executive officer Chrissie Maus said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe welcome investment from people who believe in Fremantle and want to contribute to its future. It is encouraging to see new energy around the Piazza and we look forward to seeing how the vision develops.\u201d<\/p>\n
Anyone wanting to be involved in the Piazza can contact info@thepiazzafremantle.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Fremantle is getting its own arts district, in the style of a part of London\u2019s famous Covent Garden,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":581754,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[449,64,63,99,134,10992,1625,44,46,8080,45],"class_list":{"0":"post-581753","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-arts","9":"tag-au","10":"tag-australia","11":"tag-business","12":"tag-entertainment","13":"tag-fremantle","14":"tag-lifestyle","15":"tag-news","16":"tag-perth","17":"tag-south","18":"tag-wa-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/581753","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=581753"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/581753\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/581754"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=581753"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=581753"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=581753"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}