Old Yanchep Surf Lifesaving Club Redevelopment

Ground Lease approval

Following recent approvals by Council at the December 2020 and August 2021 Ordinary Meetings, the City is working with Be Our Guest Holdings Pty Ltd (Be Our Guest) to finalise the designs and timeline for the development of a boutique hospitality venue at the site of the Old Yanchep Surf Club building under a Ground Lease arrangement.  

Be Our Guest is proposing a high standard venue similar to its successful and award-winning ventures at the Premier Mill Hotel in Katanning, the Farmers’ Home Hotel in Northam and the Freshwaters Café in Peppermint Grove. Be Our Guest also has significant experience in developing and operating ‘Dome’ branded sites in Western Australia and beyond.  

The City’s work with Be Our Guest follows an Expression of Interest process to invite candidates to demolish the existing building on Lot 10603 and construct an aspirational and iconic development to activate the area (see site map attached).  The development of the site is an important early stage of the Yanchep Lagoon Masterplan (YLM), which was approved by Council in August 2019, and follows extensive community consultation.

SEE CITY'S LATEST LAGOON LOWDOWN eNEWS

About the project

The Site

The old Yanchep Surf Club site has 2130m2 of developable area and falls within the State-owned Reserve 39022 (Crown land), managed by the City of Wanneroo under a management order. This means the site is available for the public to use now and into the future.

The property became vacant in 2017, following the relocation of the Yanchep Surf Life Saving Cub (Inc.) to the new surf club premises.  The former club premises are now disused.

Redevelopment

The potential to redevelop the site was the subject of a 2-stage Expression of Interest (EOI) process, which commenced in October 2017 and concluded in early 2019.

The EOI requested demolition of the existing building and the exploration of potential redevelopment for an aspirational and iconic commercial opportunity.

In April 2019, Council approved a proposed lease arrangement with Westland Corporate, trading as Laguna – Fresh Starts to redevelop the site.  Lease negotiations progressed during the subsequent 12-18 months, but experienced delays due to the economic impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic.  Westland Corporate advised the City in late 2020 that it would be unable to proceed with the redevelopment.

In this context, a renewed proposal by the second ranking EOI participant, Be Our Guest, has been considered by Council.  In December 2020, Council determined to consider the proposal, with lease negotiations and community engagement to follow.

In August 2021, Council approved the proposed lease to Be Our Guest.  

Be Our Guest is proposing to develop the site as a boutique hospitality venue, similar to its successful and award-winning ventures at the Premier Mill Hotel in Katanning, the Farmers’ Home Hotel in Northam and the Freshwaters Café in Peppermint Grove. Be Our Guest also has significant experience in developing and operating ‘Dome’ branded sites in Western Australia and beyond.  

Be Our Guest is now scoping the land and progressing with its project designs.   Designs and concepts for the site remain at a preliminary stage, but are expected to include a casual and family friendly bar, café, kiosk, function space and accommodation.  

Be Our Guest intends to seek community input in the course of finalising its design.

In parallel to Be Our Guest’s scoping and design work, the City is progressing with design and construction work for servicing upgrades (including to support the Be Our Guest development) and investigations for improving parking, pathways and beach access.

Yanchep Lagoon Master Plan

The Yanchep Lagoon Master Plan was approved by Council in August 2019.  The Master Plan was developed as a place-led process with significant input from the local community and other stakeholders.  

The key place drivers for the Master Plan are Keep It Natural, Keep It Local, Keep It Special and Keep It Simple.  The development of the old Yanchep Surf Club site will need to reflect this vision for the Yanchep Lagoon Master Plan. 

Community engagement will occur as part of the development of the proposal for the site.  The Yanchep Lagoon Precinct Community Working Group, comprising Councillors and local community representatives, will also have a key role in this process.

If you would like more information about the Master Plan, please go to the Yanchep Lagoon Master Plan in YOUR SAY page.