Costco’s $80 million Alkimos warehouse receives planning approval
Costco’s first store north of the Swan River has received approval in Alkimos, with an 870-bay warehouse, fuel station and major road access upgrades planned.
TECHNOLOGY & INNOVATION
Perth’s first Costco warehouse north of the river has moved closer to reality after planning authorities unanimously approved the retail giant’s proposed $80 million Alkimos development.
The Metro Outer Development Assessment Panel approved the proposal on Tuesday, clearing the way for a 14,193-square-metre Costco warehouse on a vacant 66,821-square-metre site along Romeo Road, near the current end of the Mitchell Freeway. The project will become Costco’s third Perth warehouse and its first in the city’s northern suburbs.
The warehouse will anchor Alkimos Central’s 24-hectare Home X Trade Hub, where more than 17 hectares of vacant land has been identified for future commercial development. DevelopmentWA has been seeking other operators for the precinct, which is positioned near the Alkimos METRONET station and has access to the Mitchell Freeway through Romeo Road.
The City of Wanneroo supported Costco’s proposal, but the approval includes conditions concerning the movement of heavy vehicles around the future Romeo Road and Benenden Avenue intersection.
Main Roads WA advised that there was not enough information to show that 27.5-metre B-double trucks could safely negotiate the planned intersection. It recommended limiting heavy vehicles accessing the site to vehicles no longer than 19 metres.
Developers representing Costco told the panel that the retailer generally uses 27.5-metre vehicles for deliveries but would work with DevelopmentWA and relevant government agencies to address the road network concerns.
“Costco, for its deliveries, generally uses a 27-and-a-half-meter-long vehicle, but we accept that there will need to be some adjustments to some of the existing and proposed road networks in order to accommodate that,” a developer told the panel.
“So, subject to this approval being granted, it is our intention to liaise with Development WA and the other relevant agencies to address that, and then we will foreshadow at a later stage that we would look to amend that approval condition.”
The panel later amended the condition to allow longer trucks to use the site if they receive approval from the City of Wanneroo.
The planned Costco warehouse will offer the retailer’s standard range of bulk groceries, furniture, electronics, homewares, toys, clothing, liquor, health and beauty products and other member-only goods. The site will also include an optometrist, hearing centre, food court and tyre centre.
Costco will be allowed to trade from 10am to 8.30pm Monday to Friday, 9am to 6.30pm on Saturdays and 10am to 6pm on Sundays.
A 16-bowser service station will form part of the development. It will be permitted to operate from 6am to 9pm on weekdays, 6am to 7.30pm on Saturdays and 7am to 7pm on Sundays.
The development plans include 870 car parking bays, well above the 474 bays required for a project of this scale. Customers will access the car park through future extensions of Benenden Avenue to the east and Longnor Parkway to the north.
A traffic impact assessment estimated that the proposal would generate 1,222 vehicle movements during the weekday afternoon peak hour. The assessment found that the development was not expected to significantly affect the surrounding road network.
Costco was founded in Seattle in 1983 and operates as a membership-based retailer. The company entered Australia in 2009, opened its first Perth warehouse at Perth Airport in 2020 and followed with a Casuarina store in 2022. The Alkimos warehouse would expand its presence into Perth’s rapidly growing northern corridor.
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