Tonsley Village brewery, hospitality plan is back on the boil after Kidd Retail Group deal is axed

Plans to build a brewery or restaurant at Tonsley’s old boiler house are back on the cards after a deal with the Lady Burra Brewhouse owners fell through.

Kidd Retail Group co-owner Steven Kidd at Tonsley’s former boiler house in 2019. Picture: Bianca De Marchi

The State Government wants to revive plans for a microbrewery or restaurant at Tonsley’s former boiler house, after a previous plan was put on ice.

Renewal SA has called for expressions of interest from buyers for the boiler house at the former Mitsubishi car manufacturing site – now a thriving innovation hub.

It follows the Kidd Retail Group, behind the city’s popular Lady Burra Brewhouse Bar & Kitchen, in 2018 announcing it had secured a lease to develop the site with a microbrewery.

Kidd Retail Group co-owner Steven Kidd said the Government pulled the pin on the deal following concerns about the project’s budget.

The company had also taken a step back from the project during the pandemic, and had concerns about a lack of suitable carparking.

He said last year, his company chose to focus more on its existing venues, including merging the Lady Burra Brewhouse and Noble Gentleman on Currie St in the CBD.

However, it was still considering pursuing the project through a potential purchase of the site.

“We’ve got those drawings (designs) there, to possibly purchase it and run our own race now that we have got a bit more understanding of where we’re heading,” Mr Kidd said.

It would cost about $2.5m for the fit out. The company would also need to find another $2.5m for building upgrades.

“We were ready to go and when the pandemic hit, we stopped and paused as a group and thought, is this the right direction now?” Mr Kidd said.

The Boiler House at Tonsley Innovation District. Picture: Renewal SA

Mr Kidd said the company had shelved its plans to build Frequency, a coffee shop flagged next to the Noble Gentleman.

However, it is pushing ahead with building Two Suns – a rooftop bar above the Lady Burra Brewhouse, which it hopes to open by the end of the year.

Renewal SA has advertised the boiler house for sale, calling for expressions of interest from the hospitality sector to build a brewing or distilling operation, or a restaurant, bar or cafe.

A Renewal SA spokeswoman said it negotiated extensively with Kidd Retail Group but no work ever commenced and the agreement was terminated in September.

It had planned to undertake base building works including removing and replacing asbestos cladding, providing services and other works, and could manage those commitments within budget.

“Renewal SA made provision for carparking within the Tonsley site sufficient to meet development approval requirements for the proposed Boiler House redevelopment and provided extensions to agreed time frames during the pandemic to allow sufficient time for conditions to be satisfied,” the spokeswoman said.

She said the Tonsley Innovation District had gained significant momentum as a project and “reached a level of maturity that now supports the outright sale of the Boiler House to the private sector”.

“This approach is in keeping with Renewal SA’s remit to unlock land in Adelaide and support a strong development industry,” she said.

Proponents must commit to starting design and construction works immediately, and have their business operating by July 2023.

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