Why the property industry should be watching Fremantle

A modest five-level building on Marine Terrace has quietly filled with a national defence prime, a global marine services operator and an ocean research organisation backed by one of the Gaming Industry’s most successful entrepreneurs — and it says more about Fremantle's trajectory than it does about the building itself.

Perth, Australia – For much of the past two decades, Fremantle has sat in the shadow of Perth's CBD in the minds of many property investors and occupiers — admired for its heritage streetscape and port history, but rarely spoken of as a serious commercial address. The tenant list now filling Marine House, a refurbished office building overlooking Esplanade Park and the Fremantle waterfront, suggests that view is overdue for revision.

Marine House, at 1 Essex Street, has reached full occupancy with the arrival of Inkfish, an ocean exploration and marine research organisation, and Austal Ships, the Australian-headquartered global shipbuilder and defence prime contractor, joining existing tenant Svitzer, one of the world's largest marine towage operators. Between them, the three organisations represent a level of global and national reach rarely concentrated in a single Western Australian office address — let alone one outside the Perth CBD.

A tenant mix that turns heads

Inkfish has taken 609sq m on the building's top floor. Founded in 2021 by Gabe Newell — the American entrepreneur and co-founder of games company Valve Corporation — Inkfish is dedicated to advancing global marine science through deep-sea and coastal research expeditions, specialised research vessels and submersibles, and advanced subsea imaging technology. Its decision to base a Fremantle office within its international operations is a quiet but telling endorsement of the city's standing in the global ocean science community.

Austal Ships occupies 1,888sq m. As one of Australia's most significant defence exporters, Austal designs, builds and sustains naval and commercial vessels — including patrol boats, high-speed ferries and naval surface combatants — from its shipyard at nearby Henderson. Its Marine House team supports that shipbuilding program directly, anchoring the building to one of the largest defence and shipbuilding precincts in the country.

Svitzer, which occupies level one, provides towage and marine services at ports across the globe, including here in Fremantle. Their office in Marine House acts as a control centre for ports in WA, NT and SA.

The combination — an internationally backed ocean research body, a national defence contractor, and a global towage operator — is the kind of tenant profile more commonly associated with harbour-front precincts in Sydney or Singapore than a five-level building on the edge of a Western Australian port town. That, property industry observers may note, is precisely the point.

The place, not just the space

The property was leased by co-agents Knight Frank, Norfolk Property and Colliers.

Greg McAlpine of Knight Frank, who negotiated the leasing transactions on behalf of building owner Maali, said the calibre of the tenant mix reflected a broader shift in how businesses were valuing Fremantle as a location.

“Fremantle differentiates itself through its authentic character, strong sense of place and direct connectivity to key maritime, defence and industrial precincts — particularly the activity building around Henderson and HMAS Stirling,” he said.

“Marine House is proof that occupiers, including organisations with a genuine choice of where in the world to locate, are backing that proposition.”

That proposition extends beyond the building's front door. Fremantle's ongoing waterfront renewal, its walkable, heritage-scaled streets and its concentration of hospitality and cultural amenity are increasingly cited by occupiers as differentiators in a tight labour market — factors that speak as much to talent attraction as to floor plates. Marine House itself reflects that shift: originally developed during Fremantle's America's Cup era and held in government ownership for decades, the building was acquired by Maali in 2018 and comprehensively refurbished, with new lobby, façade and end-of-trip facilities including secure bike storage and on-site showers, all within walking distance of the marina and Esplanade Park.

A national perspective

For an interstate audience, the temptation is to read Fremantle through a Perth lens — a satellite market, defined by its relationship to the CBD twenty minutes up the freeway. The tenant list at Marine House argues for a different reading: Fremantle as a maritime and defence-industry address in its own right, drawing organisations with genuinely global footprints and no obligation to be there.

Maali Director Peter Russell said the building's full occupancy validated the case for looking beyond Perth's traditional commercial core.

“When we acquired the building, we recognised its lifestyle amenity, but we also saw an opportunity to reposition it for a different kind of occupier — organisations operating at the forefront of marine services, defence, engineering and ocean research,” he said.

“Fremantle is experiencing renewed momentum. There is significant investment occurring across the waterfront, defence-related industry is expanding around Henderson, and more businesses are recognising the advantages of a location that combines lifestyle, accessibility and genuine industry connections. We think Marine House is a small but useful signal of where Fremantle is heading.”

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For further information, please contact:
Vanessa De Groot – Marketing & Communications, Knight Frank
Vanessa.degroot@au.knightfrank.com +61 410 460211

Notes to Editors
Knight Frank LLP is the leading independent global property consultancy. Headquartered in London, the Knight Frank network has 600+ offices across more than 50 territories and more than 20,000 people. The Group advises clients ranging from individual owners and buyers to major developers, investors, and corporate tenants. For further information about the Firm, please visit www.knightfrank.com.