$600 million redevelopment of Adelaide’s Festival Plaza poised to go ahead – finally
After eight years of wrangling between billionaire Lang Walker and the State Government, there’s finally been a major breakthrough on the $600 million Festival Plaza project.
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The long-awaited $600 million Festival Plaza development, including a 27-storey office tower between the Adelaide Casino and Parliament House, finally is poised to go ahead after a compromise between billionaire Lang Walker and the State Government.
In a potential end to eight years of wrangling over the prime Riverbank site, the Government has added $31 million to its previous $222.35 million budget to overhaul the public square.
The revised plans, revealed to The Advertiser, include dual escalators at the northern side of the Adelaide Railway Station entrance, linking the plaza with the lower-level southern end of the Riverbank Footbridge.
Event spaces will be increased by adding fewer jacaranda trees than in previous designs and having a smaller water feature, while power and feature lighting will be added to support events.
Infrastructure Minister Stephan Knoll said the revised plans had been submitted to the State Commission Assessment Panel as an update to those approved in 2016 and, pending another round of approvals, work was expected to start this year and be finished in 2023.
It is understood some architectural changes to the office tower incorporate requests from major tenants that Walker Corporation has secured for the building, which includes 40,000sq m of premium space for about 4000 workers.
A green light for the plans is likely to trigger Walker Corporation to go ahead with the office tower and premium retail/entertainment precinct – the latter within a three-level complex fronting the plaza – above a 1560-space underground carpark now under construction.
Mr Knoll said this would mean more than $1 billion of both private and publicly funded investment in and around the Riverbank precinct, declaring the new Festival Plaza design would ensure “a beautiful open space for all South Australians to enjoy”.
“The Festival Plaza public realm will be a new events and open public space in the heart of the Riverbank precinct that will continue the area’s transformation,” Mr Knoll said.
“The new Festival Plaza designs will ensure this is a world-class events space and can facilitate larger crowds than the initial design.”
He said the upgraded plaza would be capable of hosting thousands of people for events and gatherings, which would be a “huge boost for tourism, businesses and local jobs”.
“It will include shaded and leafy areas for people to relax and have lunch, a unique South Australian-first ‘misting’ water feature, the provision of free Wi-Fi access and many other features,” Mr Knoll said.
“This open-space design will be complemented by outdoor dining areas and associated retail activities, meaning it will become a destination for locals and tourists alike.”
The revised plans include more security bollards, along with paving and landscaping up to the area between the Adelaide Festival Centre and Dunstan Playhouse shells.
The Advertiser last year revealed Walker Corporation had proposed a hotel on the plaza’s eastern edge, fronting King William Rd and just to the north of Parliament House. Both the hotel and a proposed second office tower were rejected because the Government believed this would have triggered a renegotiation of the deal.
The former Labor government in 2012 gave Walker Corporation exclusive rights to develop the precinct.
Walker senior project manager Ben Hamilton said the new Festival Square would become a major destination for Adelaide and a vibrant public space for people to work, dine and relax.
“The redevelopment of Festival Square will link the Adelaide Festival Centre, the Adelaide Convention Centre, the railway station and the SkyCity casino, making it the heart of the city’s entertainment precinct,” he said.
“The much-needed premium office space will also become home to about 4,000 workers, creating new opportunities for the city to grow and attract new investment.
“The project’s $1 billion investment is not only helping to reshape the city centre, but it’s also creating local jobs for South Australians.
“The car park and plaza phase of the project will see more than 1,000 local workers inducted on the site to deliver these two components.”