Renewal SA to assess competing bids for Brompton gasworks

The Adelaide Crows are not the only potential buyer circling the latest site the club has earmarked for its new headquarters.

Plans to redevelop the former Brompton gasworks into a new club headquarters for the Adelaide Crows are far from a done deal, with the property’s owner to assess competing bids from other developers.

The state government’s development arm, Renewal SA, has issued an advance notice of an upcoming tender for the 5.65ha site, which will seek expressions of interest from developers.

In the notice, Renewal SA says it is seeking a “visionary development partner/s to develop a vibrant mixed-use precinct that blends heritage, sustainability and community in a way that is complementary to and integrates with the Bowden redevelopment project”.

Bids for all or part of the site – bordered by Chief, Second and Drayton streets and the train line to the western suburbs – will be considered by international property firm JLL, which will handle the process.

The former Brompton gasworks site, highlighted, is just north of Port Rd and about 3.5km northwest of Adelaide Oval.

The gasworks site, sold to the government in 2010, is part of the wider $1bn Bowden apartment and townhouse development, which involves 20 separate residential and commercial projects, including the Plant 4 market.

Adelaide Crows chairman John Olsen revealed in May that the club had narrowed down its search for a new base, to either the former Brompton gasworks or Thebarton Oval, after it shelved plans to build a new training and administrative facility at the aquatic centre in North Adelaide.

The club declined to comment on Wednesday, but it is expected to put in a bid for the site.

When revealing the Brompton site as an option, Mr Olsen said a Crows takeover “would enable a green space to be built within that Brompton-Bowden area”.

Property developer Ross Pelligra, who owns the former Holden site in Elizabeth, has previously been linked as a financial partner with the Crows, helping to co-ordinate plans for a commercial and residential development at the Brompton site.

He also declined to comment.

Adelaide Football Club chairman John Olsen. Picture: Brenton Edwards

The Crows shelved plans for a $65m redevelopment of the aquatic centre after fierce opposition by parklands preservation supporters and some Adelaide City councillors.

Mr Olsen is leading a Crows facilities committee, which includes internal and external expertise. It had planned to make a decision about a preferred site by “July or August”.

Renewal SA chief executive Chris Menz has previously said a public tender for the former gasworks site would be an “open and public competitive process and subject to necessary probity requirements required for the sale of such a significant state-owned asset”.

Artist’s impression of Adelaide Crows’ shelved plans to redevelop the Aquatic Centre in North Adelaide.

According to the advance notice document, registrations of interest information will be released to the market this month, with a shortlist then invited to participate in a request for proposal.

Freehold ownership of the gasworks site would reduce planning approval risks and give the Crows a blank slate for developing offices, ovals and clubrooms.

However the site requires extensive remediation prior to development.

The federal government has granted the Crows $15m to relocate their headquarters from West Lakes.

Renewal SA has been contacted for comment.