Theo Maras says the old Le Cornu site and Keswick Barracks could form a vibrant new suburb close to the city
A new inner-city suburb filled with high-density housing could be built on the sites of the old Le Cornu building and Keswick Barracks, says developer Theo Maras. But what would we call it?
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Prominent Adelaide property developer Theo Maras says the Keswick Barracks should be razed and converted into a “new suburb” taking in the former Le Cornu site on Anzac Highway.
Mr Maras said the barracks, on the corner of Anzac Highway and Greenhill Rd, occupied a large parcel of prime land close to the CBD, which would be the perfect place for a new suburb.
He said the barracks appear to be under-utilised, and the triangle of land already had its own train station, which currently is mostly deserted outside of Royal Show week.
Mr Maras said he was not interested in developing the site himself, but he was passionate about Adelaide embracing an “integrated, designed community” model which could concentrate higher density housing around transport corridors, to stop urban sprawl and create vibrant communities.
“Then we wouldn’t have to spend billions on infrastructure such as new roads, and rail,’’ he said.
Mr Maras encouraged the State Government to look at other areas in and close to the city, which could be developed in a similar way.
The Keswick Barracks site is a large triangle of land, 600m on the Anzac Hwy side, running 500m along the train track and 460m across the base.
It runs almost to the corner of Maple Ave, which, with Leader St, bounds the former Le Cornu site, which recently came on the market after German supermarket company Kaufland decided to scuttle its plans to set up in Australia.
Mr Maras said SA needed something to get the economy humming.
“With coronavirus and the weakness in the construction sector we need a big idea,’’ he said.
“This would be a perfect site, you have a train station, which currently nobody uses, you are close to the city.
“You could have a mix of residential and commercial and you’d have a new suburb.’’
An aerial view of the barracks shows it has a large amount of open space, including several car parks and two tennis courts.
The site also houses the Army Museum of South Australia.
His vision is reminiscent of a 30-year masterplan idea revealed by architect David Cooke in 2015, which envisaged redeveloping the southwest corner of the Adelaide CBD, which could boost the population by 17,000.
Redevelopment of the very low density housing within the existing residential precincts of the city centre would boost population significantly at low to medium height buildings,’’ Mr Cooke said.
This design philosophy would preserve natural light and allow for many smaller developers to become involved, building a variety of housing types.
The Department of Defence and the State Government were contacted for comment.
Comment below: What would be a suitable name for the new suburb?