West Perth become the mecca for junior miners and engineering outfits during the resources boom but it is now a far cry from the busy hub it once was.

Almost a fifth of West Perth offices are now lying empty and property expert Gavin Hegney believes it is set to worsen.

"It's almost like a ghost town at different times, there's been a massive turnaround in the West Perth market," he said.

"We're probably seeing a vacancy rate around 15 to 16 per cent and trending up so, we're probably going to head over 20 per cent within the next 12 months."

The district was the go to suburb for smaller miners either unwilling to rent or unable to afford real estate in Perth's CBD.

But a slow down in mining activity and collapsing commodity prices has caused many to either fall out the market or downsize to suburbs further from Perth.

Downturn taking toll on local businesses

It is taking a toll on local businesses now facing fewer customers each day.

Food Store Cafe manager Annette Carone said business had completely changed since she and her partner took over the cafe three years ago.

"It's really unpredictable at the moment and we just do what we can to stay afloat really," she said.

"You've just got to try and pay your bills and wages and just get by each week basically.

"We've had whole office buildings that were regular customers leave. They've either moved out of West Perth because their office has gotten smaller or they've moved somewhere else or complete shutdowns."

Chris Harle says trade has slowed significantly after regular customers moved on. ( ABC News: Kathryn Diss )

Just down the road at Epic Espresso, Chris Harle echoed the same concerns.

"It has slowed down significantly, some days are better than others but it has slowed down.

"We used to have massive groups of people that used to belong to certain companies, they obviously don't come in anymore because they've gone out of business."

Property experts said the West Perth office market would continue to struggle because the stock was looking tired with plenty of newer options coming online in Perth's CBD.

Mr Hegney said landlords would have to re-invent in their offering if they were to stay in business long term.

"They have to make them look better to attract the tenants that are in the marketplace, it's a competitive market and to compete you have to be good," he said.

"I think you're going to see more residential creep in, so it's going to become a more mixed-use area, so you're going to see new buildings and refurbishment of old buildings to make the area a bit better.

"So almost a renovation on West Perth is needed to bring some appeal and life back to the West Perth precinct."