250 homes for former food wholesaler Metcash site in Kidman Park
Up to 250 homes will be built on a former food wholesaler site in Adelaide’s west, described as the largest remaining infill site in the area.
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Up to 250 homes will be built on a former industrial site in Kidman Park, described as the largest remaining infill site in Adelaide’s western suburbs.
Fairland, the development arm of Fairmont Group, has paid $41.5m for the former cold storage and distribution centre on the corner of Findon and Valetta Roads, and is planning a new “high-end master-planned community”.
The 11ha site was formerly the home of wholesale food distributor Metcash before its relocation to a new $80m distribution centre in Gepps Cross last year.
Fairland general manager Scott Searle said the land was the largest remaining infill site in the western suburbs, and the developer would work with a range of builders to create a new neighbourhood.
Investigations into rezoning the land have started, with sales for the project expected to kick off by the middle of next year.
Contamination is not expected to be a major issue given the site’s history as a market garden before its development into a logistics and warehousing hub.
“We see the development here being one that has a mixture of housing types from small lots through to more traditional single and two-storey housing,” Mr Searle said.
“There will be opportunities for townhouse development – two-storey, three-storey – but we don’t think the site is ultimately needed to contain apartments or other styles of higher-density development.
“We are also integrating the land back towards the River Torrens – it has been segregated from there for 50 years.”
Mr Searle said the Federal Government’s HomeBuilder scheme had been “extremely positive” for the housing market, with many in the industry “pleasantly surprised” by the take up.
“The Adelaide market has well and truly shifted in the past two years,” he said.
“We’re seeing increased demand for housing not just from first homebuyers, but also from people choosing to stay in Adelaide, or return due to COVID-19, plus lots of interest from interstate buyers.”
South Australians have taken up more HomeBuilder grants than any other state on a per capita basis, with a total of 13,913 grants handed out.
Housing Industry Association SA executive director Stephen Knight said the scheme had driven new home approvals to record levels.
Close to 3400 detached homes were approved in the three months to March, according to ABS figures, up almost 80 per cent from the same time last year.
“We anticipate a record volume of building work will commence this year, and into 2022, with more than 11,000 new detached homes to commence construction,” Mr Knight said.
The Kidman Park site, which borders Linear Park, was previously owned by Singapore’s ARA Logos Logistics Trust, which paid $57m for the property in 2015.
Fairland – one of the state’s largest developers – is nearing completion of 175 new houses at its Northridge project in Enfield, and is seeking builders to partner in The Entrance project in Angle Vale – a major development that will deliver 750 new homes by 2030.
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