Grange Development and Costa Property Group earmark Gifford Hill for $7.5bn project

Developers have unveiled a bold plan for a $7.5bn satellite city near Murray Bridge, and are hopeful the area could become home to Adelaide’s second airport.

A bold $7.5bn plan to create a satellite city near Murray Bridge, southeast of Adelaide, has been unveiled by developers, in what’s being billed as the largest residential housing project in South Australia since the 1950s.

Grange Development and Costa Property Group joined forces to acquire more than 900ha of farmland within the 1860ha Gifford Hill precinct, where they have developed a masterplan comprising 17,100 new homes for 44,000 residents, along with a new town centre, six “neighbourhood activity centres”, seven schools and 404ha of conservation and open green space.

Gifford Hill – an hour east of Adelaide and just south of the Murray Bridge township – has been earmarked for residential development since 2009, when housing group Burke Urban, the Murray Bridge Racing Club and Thoroughbred Racing SA acquired more than 800ha of land in the precinct.

Backed by investors, including the Hurley Hotel Group, former AFL footballer Mark Ricciuto and the Wicks winery family, the consortium developed a new racecourse as the first stage of a wider plan to deliver thousands of new homes in the area.

An artist's impression of the Gifford Hill town centre and main street. Picture: Grange Development and Costa Property Group

Since taking over the consortium’s landholding last year, Grange Development and Costa Property Group accumulated 909ha at Gifford Hill. Their plans for a 30-40-year housing project at the site is described as the largest since the development of Elizabeth as a satellite city in Adelaide’s northern suburbs.

It is slightly larger in area but lower in density than Walker Corporation’s Riverlea project in Buckland Park.

The joint-venture partners are also hopeful that Gifford Hill could one day become home to Adelaide’s second airport.

Grange Development founder James Dibble said the project represented “the most significant residential development in history for South Australia and Adelaide”.

“We are looking forward to delivering an exceptional residential community that sets new standards for sustainable living, connectivity and amenity, while creating a second major city for the state,” Mr Dibble said.

“Gifford Hill will be future-proofed in its urban design, technology, built form and materiality to deploy forward-focused principles, celebrating the existing beauty and amenity of Murray Bridge and the Adelaide Hills region, while offering residents the opportunity to live, work, and play amidst a peri-urban lifestyle.”

An aerial view of the Gifford Hill precinct near Murray Bridge, which has been earmarked for a major $7.5bn housing development. Picture: Grange Development and Costa Property Group

Ballarat-based Grange Development previously teamed up with Costa Property Group – the residential development company founded by the late Frank Costa that is now overseen by wife, Shirley – on several projects, including a $400m apartment development in Nedlands, near Perth, and a 1100-home residential project near Ballarat.

The joint venture’s landholding at Gifford Hill is expected to accommodate 9969 of the 17,100 new homes included in the masterplan, with the rest of the land controlled by several private owners.

Mr Dibble said the masterplan comprised of 13,100 detached houses and 4000 townhouses and apartments.

The development is centred around the new $110m Murray Bridge Racing Club, and aligns with the local council’s Murray Bridge Structure Plan, which was released earlier this month and estimates that the region’s population will grow to almost 40,000 residents by 2041.

Gifford Hill masterplan concept design. Picture: Costa Property Group and Grange Development

Rural City of Murray Bridge mayor Wayne Thorley said Gifford Hill had been identified as a suitable location to boost housing supply amid a shortage of residential accommodation across South Australia.

“Murray Bridge already has everything people need,” he told The Advertiser.

“There’s a hospital, there are high schools and elementary schools, there are shops.

“There are also employment opportunities, I think Thomas Foods employs more than 400 people and Costa Adelaide Mushrooms employs another 400.

“Aside from that, this is just really convenient, it’s not too far from Adelaide if people need to make the trip down.”

Co-owner of Ponyboy, a fro-yo shop, James Tzaferis said he is excited to see the Gifford Hill residential project being realised as it will benefit small businesses in Murray Bridge.

“I think at the moment it’s tough for a lot of small businesses, and Ponyboy is a perfect example, I think it’ll benefit from a population growth even as little as 5000,” Mr Tzaferis said.

“But to know that there’s a development project aiming to build 17,000 new homes - obviously it’s a long thing down the track thing - but it’s a good thing for businesses.”

On completion, the Gifford Hill precinct is expected to generate $750m of retail spending a year in the Murray Bridge region, while creating 7210 onsite jobs and 5240 indirect jobs during construction.

Construction of the first homes is expected to start by the end of next year. The first stage of 1405 allotments is to be built west of Brinkley Road, between the racecourse and the South Eastern Freeway.