Mapped: Who owns Glenelg’s Jetty Rd? The names and families behind the Bay’s commercial heart

A prominent developer investing millions into Glenelg believes it could become Adelaide’s second CBD. See what’s planned and find out the families shaping Jetty Rd. Explore out interactive map.

Glenelg’s famous Jetty Road has all you’d expect from a major shopping strip needing to serve local residents as well as hordes of visitors and tourists during the summer crush.

There are the usual multinational retail brands, family-owned restaurants and cafes, offices, a cinema and even a church.

But ownership of the bricks and mortar stores resides predominantly in the hands of South Australian-owned families.

The Advertiser, with the help of international property group JLL, has analysed and mapped ownership of 104 front-facing properties on Jetty Road using SA property title information and business records held with ASIC.

Jetty Road is the 1km shopping strip linking Brighton Road in the east with Colley Tce beachside and contains some 330 stores in and around the precinct.

It will be of little surprise to many familiar with Glenelg that the lion’s share of properties belong to the Taplin real estate family whose name has been synonymous with the Bay and have poured millions into property.

The Advertiser identified nearly 20 properties owned by the Taplin family, headed by property mogul Andrew Taplin, which are spread across the length of Jetty Rd.

Among them are the corner of Jetty Rd and Colley Tce, which the Taplins have wanted to demolish and replace with new shops and a seven-storey hotel.

The State Commission Assessment Panel approved the $25 million plans in June 2020.

The Taplins also secured planning approval a year earlier for an $18m five-storey office block at 85-87 Jetty Rd.

One of Adelaide’s best known property investors, the Polites family, has at least seven properties that The Advertiser and JLL could identify on Jetty Rd.

Other owners with in excess of five properties include the Hadgecostas family, Maios family and the Theodorakakos family, who also have property in Unley and recently brought Bottega Gelateria to Jetty Rd.

Mark Harrington owns a chunk of properties between 138 and 148 Jetty Rd.

The Polities family and the Taplin family are among major landlords on Jetty Rd, Glenelg.

Con Maios, who is chair of the Jetty Road Mainstreet Committee, said the precinct was largely controlled by family-owned landlords, many who also lived and grew up in the area and were invested in its success.

He said only three out of the 300-odd shops were vacant which was the “lowest vacancy rate since I can remember”.

“I think Covid has produced a boost for local shopping, local residents have come back,” Mr Maios said.

“Also I think people are not spending money on overseas or interstate travel and so are coming here.

“We’ve seen people who’ve never been to Glenelg before are coming down and having a look.”

He said the Taplin projects would “radically change” the skyline of Jetty Rd.

He said there had been no major investment in Jetty Rd since the Taplin group upgraded the Bay Junction Shopping Centre on the corner of Brighton Rd in 2009.

Jetty Road Mainstreet Committee chair Con Maios said the strip was enjoying “the lowest vacancy rate I can remember”. Photo: Brenton Edwards

Mr Maios believed Jetty Rd’s future was not in more apartment development on the strip, but rather office space to create a “second CBD” in Glenelg, particularly as it’s at the end, or start, of a tram line.

“We’ve seen demand grow for offices on and off Jetty Road (since the pandemic),” he said.

“Most cities have at least one or two CBDs, we’re unique that we don’t.”

Mr Taplin agreed, saying that Glenelg was changing with recent apartment investment in the area changing the demographics.

“Why wouldn’t you want to have A-Grade office accommodation in Glenelg, if you had a meeting you could just jump on a tram, you’re close to the airport and have got great restaurants and coffee shops,” he said. “This will be the second CBD.”

The Taplin Group is aiming to begin building this seven-story hotel on the corner of Jetty Rd and Colley Tce, Glenelg, in February. Image: Alexander Brown Architects

He said his company was fortunate to have “consolidated sites” to allow for larger developments and car parking.

“Consolidated sites become catalysts (for more development), and success breeds success,” he said.

He expected construction of the hotel to begin in February and take 14 months to finish. He said his company was still committed to the five-story office project.

Mr Maios said the traders were also still hopeful the state government would co-invest in a new 300m replacement of the Glenelg jetty as part of a more ambitious vision, revealed in 2016, including a hotel, marine research centre, public baths, function space and ferry terminal.

Con Maios from the Jetty Road Mainstreet Committee is still hopeful the state government will co-invest in an upgrade of the Glenelg Jetty.

A hotel built over the water and a new Glenelg jetty was envisaged as a way of boosting tourism to the Bay. Picture: Mott MacDonald

The state Liberal Party pledged $20m towards the public part of the project at the time, but Mr Maios said nothing had eventuated.

“It would have been an amazing development for the state as a whole, it would have been a major tourism drawcard,” he said.

Holdfast Bay Council recently completed a $3.6m upgrade of Chapel Street and Hindmarsh Lane, which included a controversial sea-squirt public art piece, just off Jetty Rd.

The upgrade is the first stage of a long-term masterplan to improve the “attractiveness and accessibility” of Jetty Rd, the council says.