Charter Hall and Built become Hutt St Centre’s biggest corporate supporters

Property heavyweights Charter Hall and Built have become the Hutt St Centre’s biggest corporate supporters after pledging $50,000 in cash and in kind contributions to the homeless centre.

Hutt St Centre chief executive Ian Cox, left, with Charter Hall senior development manager George Roussos. Picture Dean Martin

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Property heavyweights Charter Hall and Built have become the Hutt St Centre’s biggest corporate supporters after pledging $50,000 in cash and in kind contributions to the homeless centre.

As part of the new partnership, Charter Hall and Built staff and subcontractors working on the $250 million GPO Exchange office tower, will volunteer their time to serve meals at the centre and provide advice on previously announced refurbishment works.

Charter Hall has also become the major sponsor of the Hutt St Centre’s flagship business lunch, which will be held next month.

Hutt St Centre chief executive Ian Cox said partnering with a large ASX-listed company was a major coup for the charity as competition for funding intensified.

“We know how serious Charter Hall are about having a footprint here in Adelaide and they’re here for the long term - we’ve been here for 65 years doing what we do,” he said.

“And it goes beyond just the monetary investment that Charter Hall are providing. We see a real empathy from their people, and for us it’s really important that any partnership we have from the corporate sector in particular, that they actually believe in the cause and these guys absolutely do.”

Sydney-based construction company Built is currently delivering the GPO Exchange development on behalf of Charter Hall, which currently oversees close to $1 billion of investment in the state.

Charter Hall senior development manager George Roussos said the two companies’ partnership on the GPO project inspired their decision to throw their support behind Hutt St Centre.

“There’s been discussions over the past year about how that looks, and what kind of fundraising targets and in kind support we could deliver to Hutt St Centre,” he said.

“Giving money is something that corporates do, but one of the things we wanted to do was give an opportunity to Charter Hall, Built and subcontractors to be able to go and spend some time in the kitchen, serve some meals - for people to actually see what difference we can actually make.”

In January, the Hutt St Centre board decided the centre would remain at its current home, deciding to renovate the ageing facility rather than relocate to new premises.

It followed what local traders and residents said was a rise in alcohol and drug-fuelled violence and anti-social behaviour in the area.

Mr Cox said the centre had maintained support from the “overwhelming majority” of traders in the area, while it continued to reach out to others who held ongoing concerns.

“I think there’s a few that probably prefer not to have a homeless shelter in their vicinity and that’s something we’re dealing with,” he said.

“After that attention I guess we realised that we’ve got to be a bit more outward focused and communicate more what we do.

“We’re really wanting to open up, be more communicative, which we have been in the past year, and that’s got a lot of people understanding a lot better and back on side with us.”

The Hutt St Centre’s annual business lunch will be held at Adelaide Oval on May 22.