Yugo Adelaide student accommodation tower reaches top point

One of the tallest buildings in SA aims to fill up with international students, but locals will get in first.

Domestic students from interstate and regional South Australia will be a key focus for a new student apartment tower on North Tce.

The Yugo Adelaide City student accommodation building reached the topping off point on Wednesday of the 118.8m tower, one of Adelaide’s tallest buildings.

Primarily designed for the international student market, the $110m, 725-bed complex will always take some domestic students but they are expected to form many of the first tenants while global travel is restricted.

“We’ve partnered with the Australian Boarding Schools Association so we can work with families who need accommodation for students leaving school,” said Tim Klitscher, managing director for the Asia Pacific of Yugo.

The 36-storey tower, due to be completed by the end of the first quarter in 2022, is the first for the company in Adelaide, complementing operations in WA and Victoria.

The Yugo Adelaide City building, right, at the corner of North Terrace and Frome St.

Mr Klitscher said in Melbourne total occupancy had fallen a bit but domestic numbers had increased and now made up 60 per cent rather than 5 per cent of tenants.

Despite current Covid-19 restriction problems, the company was confident Adelaide’s international student market would recover.

“We’re really excited to start to become part of the Adelaide economy and education sector,” he said.

“There are still international students in Australia and we have continued to look after them in Perth and Melbourne and we’ll be looking to do the same here in Adelaide.”

Yugo managing director for the Asia Pacific Tim Klitscher and StudyAdelaide chief executive Karyn Kent at the ceremony. Picture: supplied

StudyAdelaide chief executive Karyn Kent welcomed the investment.

“We’re really confident in Adelaide as a study destination so we’re working really hard with education and accommodation providers to recover as quickly as we can,” she said.

Ms Kent said the pilot project to bring in the first returning international students remained on the agenda but with no firm date set.

Yugo Adelaide City will have a variety of types of rooms, some with shared bathrooms and some with ensuites.

The 12th and 13th floors – which are in the narrower middle section of the hourglass inspired design – and the top floor will be common room areas.

Residents also will have access to a gym.

A ground floor cafe will be contracted to a third party and open to the public.

Interstate, Global Student Accommodation charges from $199 to $500 a week.

Residents must be students and aged 16 or older.

The project has met some barriers along the way, including a court challenge from Frome St neighbour Crowne Plaza and architectural changes required via the State Commission Assessment Panel.

Global Student Accommodation is headquartered in London and operates in 55 cities in nine countries. It provides 45,000 beds from 95 buildings.

The Yugo brand was launched in July in Colorado, merging several companies including the Student Housing Company operating in Australia.

Yugo said surveys in the US found students regarded climate change as the most important issue facing the world.

At all its properties, Yugo pledged to eliminate single-use plastics, provide sustainably sourced beds and chairs and educate students on energy use and sustainable living.