128-room boutique hotel proposed for Adelaide Oval’s eastern grandstand

A 128-room boutique hotel is set to wrap around Adelaide Oval’s eastern grandstand, facing the parklands, financed by a State Government loan of up to $42 million. GOOD IDEA OR BAD? TAKE THE POLL

A 128-ROOM boutique hotel is set to wrap around Adelaide Oval’s eastern grandstand, facing the parklands, financed by a State Government loan of up to $42 million.

Plans for the Australian-first stadium hotel, obtained exclusively by the Sunday Mail, show a five-level building extending from the eastern stand’s northeastern and southeastern exterior sides, linked by a second-level walkway.

It is understood the hotel will be integrated into the eastern facade of the existing grandstand structure and contained within the Oval precinct, without affecting the Parklands or current plaza.

But the plans, developed by the architects behind the award-winning $535 million Oval redevelopment opened in 2014, will ignite debate about development in Adelaide’s Parklands.

Hotel rooms will face the Parklands, not the Oval, although it is likely there will be a special entrance.

Guests will need tickets for events.

It is understood plans will be unveiled on Sunday by Premier Steven Marshall and the Oval’s Stadium Management Authority, which will build and manage the hotel.

Construction is expected to start in mid-2019 ahead of an opening in August 2020, in time for the International Cricket Council Men’s World T20, for which Adelaide Oval will host a semi-final that November.

The project’s total value is not known, though it is likely to about the same as the loan capped at $42 million, provided at standard 30-year commercial rates by the SA Government Financing Authority.

An artist’s impression of the hotel to wrap around Adelaide Oval’s eastern grandstand.

And an artist impression from another angle.

It is understood the SMA, along with joint venture partners the SANFL and South Australian Cricket Association, has been considering a hotel and preparing the business case for some time.

The key aims are to ensure the Oval remains at the forefront of innovation and to offset running costs with a regular income stream that is not dependent on events.

More than 100 full-time jobs are expected to be created when the hotel is complete.

The hotel effectively will be built snug against the eastern stand, on the existing Oval footprint.

Oval seats will not be affected by construction and it is understood none of the existing patron access points, including the plaza and atrium entry, will be affected by the development.

The SMA has started plans to minimise the effect on game-day patrons for football and cricket seasons. The design, by COX Architecture, has been reviewed by the Office for Design and Architecture South Australia, a Government body, to ensure it is in keeping with the existing structures and plans soon will be put before the State Commission Assessment Panel, which assesses major developments.

Since the acclaimed Oval redevelopment opened in 2014, a $9 million lighting and sound upgrade was unveiled last year and grandstand RoofClimb tours launched as a commercial venture in 2016.

The Advertiser in September revealed an ambitious arena that could host concerts, events, soccer, tennis and basketball was being considered for the Riverbank precinct.

At the time, state Liberal Party president and Adelaide Oval SMA deputy chairman John Olsen urged serious consideration of the “emerging opportunity” for a multipurpose arena near the Oval. A business case has been commissioned by the Adelaide Venue Management Corporation, which operates the Entertainment Centre, Convention Centre and Hindmarsh Stadium.