Planning authorities give nod to $905m worth of city development for Adelaide’s CBD

MORE than $900 million worth of city development has been approved in the past couple of years with new hotels poised to drive the changing face of the CBD.

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MAJOR investment in city hotels is poised to lead the next critical phase in the CBD’s development boom, the Property Council says.

Planning authorities have approved almost $905 million worth of city developments since 2012, according to figures obtained by The City.

As city and political leaders hailed the investment, the Property Council said developers were starting to invest in major hotel construction and refurbishments as visitor numbers swell on the back of AFL’s move to Adelaide Oval.

Ibis Adelaide general manager Nathan Frost and Hines Group's James Hines at the front of the new Ibis Hotel in Grenfell Street ... the venue opened last month.

Property Council acting SA executive director Lino Iacomella said new investment would come in hotels as tourism demand increased.

Its research has found the office construction sector was “bottoming out” and developers were looking for new growth areas.

“The next phase of development is likely to also see more hotels after years of very little investment in new hotels, as well as greater refurbishment and possible redevelopment of older office buildings,” Mr Iacomella said.

The Hotel Ibis on Grenfell Street was launched last month while at least two other major accommodation buildings are due to open within a year.

At the Ibis launch Premier Jay Weatherill said his government wanted to build “a hell of a lot more” hotels.

Mr Weatherill told The City the CBD had witnessed “an explosion of private sector interest in city developments”.

“These investments were always about growing confidence in our city and making it a more attractive place to invest, putting more privately-backed cranes in the sky,” he said.

He said it was clear Adelaide was changing and people had “embraced this change like never before”.

New figures show Adelaide City Council approved almost $110 million in development since 2012.

Meanwhile, latest State Government data shows that over that same time period almost $800 million in CBD projects have been approved by the Development Assessment Commission.

Projects have ranged from new residential and serviced apartment buildings, offices, hotels, the Torrens Footbridge as well as office refurbishments.

They do not include the $535 million Adelaide Oval redevelopment, which according to the government has helped fuel visitor numbers to the city.

The City Council’s general manager of planning and design, David Chick, said the figures were “pleasing” given the “sluggish economic outlook” for South Australia.

The state’s Development Assessment Commission has assessed city projects worth more than $10 million since 2008, after the government stripped the City Council of some of its planning powers.

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