Charter Hall starts work on $450m Southern Cross Arcade office tower in Adelaide CBD

Work on Adelaide’s biggest office tower has kicked off, creating more than 1500 construction jobs in the CBD.

The developer of a $450m office tower in Adelaide will spend more than $2m restoring a heritage-listed building facade at the site after officially starting work on the project on Monday.

Premier Steven Marshall joined representatives from developer Charter Hall at the Southern Cross Arcade site on King William Street on Monday afternoon to mark the start of construction on the building, which will eventually become a hub for 3500 commercial and retail workers.

The 14-storey tower will comprise 40,000sq m of office space, making it the city’s biggest office building by area once completed in 2023.

Services Australia, which manages public services including Centrelink and Medicare, will relocate more than 2200 non-customer-facing staff to the new premises after entering a 10-year lease for 28,500sq m across 10 floors.

Additional tenants are being sought for the top three floors of the building and a 3600sq m ground floor retail precinct which will feature cafes, restaurants, a supermarket, barista bar and allied health and wellness facilities.

Artist’s impression of Charter Hall development at 60 King William Street, Adelaide. Picture: Supplied by Charter Hall

Charter Hall office chief executive Carmel Hourigan said she was confident the building would be fully leased by the time it’s completed, despite the work-from-home revolution brought about by COVID-19.

“We are in the middle of conversations with a number of tenants and we’re very confident that we will have the space leased by completion in 2023,” she said.

“There’s a lot of demand for high quality accommodation, even through COVID.

“The onus is really on us as landlords to create space that people want to come back to – this project has significantly large floor plates, it’s very flexible, it’s a fantastic healthy building.”

The new office tower will offer the latest in state-of-the-art workplace facilities and technologies, including a sky lobby, facial recognition, touchless access and bathroom amenities and a wellness centre.

Tenants will have exclusive access to a rooftop terrace and the city’s “largest hotel-style end-of-trip facilities”, including private showers, grooming stations and 350 bike parks.

Late last year Charter Hall redrew its design for the project after plans to demolish a heritage facade were met with fierce opposition from groups wanting it to be retained.

Ms Hourigan confirmed more than $2m would be spent on a restoration of the 1930s art deco facade of the Sands & McDougall building, which was retained in the final design.

Charter Hall office chief executive Carmel Hourigan with regional development director Simon Stockfeld at the 60 King William Street site. Picture: Russell Millard

The development has been designed by Cox Architecture while national company Built is overseeing construction.

Ms Hourigan said tenants were beginning to request new styles of workplaces in light of COVID-19, including requirements for more floor space per employee.

“There’s certainly been some briefs in the Australian market which have pointed to that,” she said.

“We were really heading down that path of one to 8sq m, but we have seen some recent briefs come out at one to 10sq m, one to 12sq m.

“That is interesting and obviously points to the social distancing aspect. I also think it’s reflecting that people want more collaborative space, so when they are coming back they’re thinking about how they’re going to use the space.”

SA Senator Simon Birmingham, who attended the groundbreaking ceremony on Monday, said the project would create more than 1500 jobs during construction, and a commercial hub that would deliver “positive flow-on effects for businesses in our CBD”.

“The construction of this project along with the long-term commitment by Services Australia is unlocking thousands of jobs for our state,” he said.

Artist’s impression of interior of Charter Hall’s new office development at 60 King William Street, Adelaide. Picture: Supplied by Charter Hall