Rivervale Offices

The former office block at 97 Great Eastern Highway, Rivervale, was constructed in the late 1960s as part of a commercial site near the corner of Acton Avenue. The 6,648m² property was sold to Endos Pty Ltd for $700,000 in 1992. It was listed for sale on 29 July 2019 and remained on the market for 814 days before being purchased by The Trust Company Ltd for $5.225 million on 21 October 2022.

 

Tenants

One of the earliest occupants was tobacco company Rothmans of Pall Mall (Australia) Ltd, who tenanated the building during the 1970s. The Australian Red Cross Blood Service later operated laboratories and other facilities from the building. Medical research published in 2006 and 2007 listed its Blood Service Enterprise division at 97 Great Eastern Highway, where staff conducted testing and research associated with donated blood and the detection of HIV, hepatitis B, hepatitis C and malaria.

 

By 2009, the address was also being used by Fortescue Metals Group as a train control centre. Documents prepared for Fortescue’s Pilbara rail network described the Rivervale centre as being responsible for train control and the management of rail-access arrangements.

 

Building layout and facilities

The main building was a two-storey office block containing 620m² of floor space. Later leasing advertisements described partitioned offices, open-plan work areas, a boardroom, kitchen and staff room, external courtyard and 12 parking bays. By this time, the agent acknowledged that the building was showing its age. Other parts of the property included office and warehouse tenancies, including a separate 285m² unit containing an 80m² office and 205 m² warehouse that was leased in January 2020.

 

Demolition

The office block was demolished around March 2024, together with the adjoining property at 103 Great Eastern Highway. The sites were amalgamated with the long-vacant block on the corner of Acton Avenue, where a Chinese restaurant had been demolished in mid-2008.

 

Redevelopment

National Storage lodged plans for a $19 million self-storage complex across the combined properties. The application, submitted by Rowe Group, proposed a three-storey warehouse and an additional single-storey building. The Metro Inner-South Joint Development Assessment Panel refused the application on 15 December 2023 by a vote of three to two. The panel raised concerns about the proposed 65 per cent site coverage, the four-metre setback from Great Eastern Highway instead of the required 15 metres, the size and appearance of the buildings and the lack of activity along the highway frontage. December 2023 DAP minutes

 

The refusal was taken to the State Administrative Tribunal. Revised plans included a different treatment of the Great Eastern Highway frontage, additional landscaping and changes to the appearance of the building. Approval was granted on 5 June 2024 following the SAT reconsideration.

 

Construction and completion

Construction was undertaken by FDC Construction & Fitout, with Ewert Leaf as architect and Encon providing project management. Completed in May 2026, the three-storey complex contains more than 10,000m² of floor space and over 800 individual storage units. It now operates as National Storage Rivervale, with its main address listed as 2 Acton Avenue.