Australian Unity puts Newmarket Hotel site back on the market

Plans for high rise towers on the Newmarket Hotel site have been shelved again, with its owner looking to offload it just two years after its $38.5m purchase.

The Newmarket Hotel site on the corner of North and West terraces. Picture: Supplied by Colliers

Plans for a high rise medical development on the historic Newmarket Hotel site on North Tce have been shelved, with owner Australian Unity looking to offload the site just two years after its $38.5m purchase.

The health, wealth and care services giant acquired the site from Singaporean-backed One North Terrace (Aust) in 2023, with plans for a development to capitalise on the city’s burgeoning biomedical precinct around the Royal Adelaide Hospital.

Colliers selling agents Jozef Dickinson, Jordan Schmidt, Justin Hazell and Robert Papaleo have been appointed to sell the near-3000sq m site, which includes the former HQ Complex nightclub, and comes with a development approval secured by its previous owner.

The approval includes dual 32 towers with a mix of residential and serviced apartments above a mix of commercial office, retail and hospitality spaces within a 10-level podium and across the ground floor.

Artist’s impression of the approved development at the Newmarket Hotel site. Picture: Supplied by Colliers

The Newmarket Hotel, which has been closed since 2017, would be retained and restored under the current approvals.

Mr Schmidt described it as an “unrepeatable development approval” that was likely to generate interest from biomedical, education, leisure and apartment developers.

“With such a significant and unrepeatable development approval at this pivotal location between the city’s growing education and health sciences sectors, we are extremely confident that this opportunity in the tightly held Adelaide CBD market will capture the imagination of both local developers and also those from further afield,” he said.

“There is an unprecedented planning approval for the site in place, which is surrounded by some of Adelaide’s most important infrastructure, including the Royal Adelaide Hospital, South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI 1 and 2), UniSA and the medical school of Adelaide University.”

There have been plans to redevelop the Newmarket Hotel site dating back to 2015, but after years of delays and disuse, the historic 142-year-old main building has been significantly damaged, including the destruction by vandals of a grant circular staircase.

Expressions of interest in the property close at 4pm on May 29.

Originally published as Australian Unity puts Newmarket Hotel site back on the market