Southern Cross Arcade on King William St to be demolished for 15-storey tower
A popular food court in the city would be demolished to make way for a 15-storey office tower under new plans to redevelop a slice of Adelaide’s major CBD thoroughfare.
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The Southern Cross Arcade on King William Street will be razed to make way for a 15-storey office tower under new plans from property developer Charter Hall.
The company has lodged plans with the state’s planning commission, which include 40,000sq m of office space and 3000sq m of retail on the ground floor.
Charter Hall regional development director Simon Stockfeld said the company had entered an agreement to purchase the site from a group of investors led by Adelaide property investor Peter Tunno, and hoped to get work started early in the new year.
“We would hope to get at least 50 per cent pre-leased before we start construction,” he said.
“If everything goes well we’ll commence construction early next year and completion by the middle of 2023.”
The Advertiser understands Charter Hall is close to securing major tenant Services Australia to anchor the project.
The Federal Government department, which oversees public services including Centrelink and Medicare, has been on the hunt for 29,000sq m of office space in the Adelaide CBD since last year.
Mr Stockfeld and international property group JLL, which is handling expressions of interest on behalf of Services Australia, declined to comment on the status of negotiations.
Last year Charter Hall completed construction of the $260m GPO Exchange building for BHP and the Attorney-General’s Department.
Mr Stockfeld said the King William Street project, designed by Adelaide Oval redevelopment architect Cox Architecture, would draw inspiration from its state-of-the-art facilities.
“It’s really building on the work we did on GPO Exchange – it will be a technology-enabled building, a green building and a great retail element at the bottom of the building,” he said.
“We’ve been through the pre-lodgement process and it’s been a good consultative process with the State Government and Adelaide City Council, to put forward a fantastic redevelopment for this site.
“We like the King William Street location and the fact the site goes all the way through to James Place is appealing too.
“Most office tenants look for large floor-plates and this is very large site so we feel it represents a good investment for Charter Hall in South Australia.”
At 3000sq m, the floor-plates will be some of the biggest on offer in Adelaide.
Mr Stockfeld said the ground floor would offer a range of retail tenancies, replacing the current arcade which includes an international food court, newsagency and Cheap as Chips.
“It will be food and beverage and convenience-type retail – it’s in a strong retail location around the corner from Rundle Mall and we’ve got some ideas from a retail perspective.”
Southern Cross Newsagency owner Daryl Seekamp said he would “be amazed” if he would return after the upgrade.
“It’s probably going to be a two-year project at least and there’s no way I’ll be coming back,” he said, adding that his trade was 40 per cent down on pre-COVID levels.
He said four shops were presently empty in the arcade and another two tenants would be leaving soon.