More jobs, more homes: Why the Victorian company beat the Crows to Bowden

More jobs, more homes. This is why the Crows’ proposal for Bowden did not measure up to the proposal from Victorian company MAB.

In the battle of the Bowden proposals, one plan stood out from the rest.

Treasurer Rob Lucas said the MAB Corporation’s proposal offered the highest economic benefit for the area.

“On the basis of the evidence I saw, there was no other reasonable decision that could have or should have been taken by me as the responsible minister when I saw the evaluation,” he said.

Renewal SA chief executive Chris Menz said the tender evaluation process for the project had been extensive.

“As with all opportunities of this size and scale, our review of the responses was supported by independent analysis including external input around remediation, sustainability, heritage, economic and financial factors,” he said.

“While all the submissions we received from the short-listed bidders were of a high quality, the MAB proposal was judged as delivering superior overall outcomes across the evaluation criteria.”

Former Brompton gasworks site. Picture: Supplied by Renewal SA

The MAB Corporation’s proposal included $459m in capital expenditure over the 10-year life of the project, creating an average of 190 South Australian jobs per year. Once completed, the development would support a further 730-1000 ongoing employment opportunities.

A 120-room hotel and integrated commercial and retail spaces, as well as a piazza surrounded by eateries and bars will also be constructed.

In total, the development will feature 11,500sqm of commercial and retail space.

It will also house about 2200 residents in a mix of townhouse and apartment accommodation, including up to 200 build-to-rent and aged care apartments.

Of these residential options, 15 per cent will be affordable homes.

And 25 per cent of the project site would have been dedicated to open space.

Although the Crows’ plan was viable and competitive, it did not stack up as well as the MAB Corporation’s proposal, according to Mr Lucas, who ultimately made the final decision on which development would go ahead.

The Crows’ proposal would have cost about $270m ($70m from the Crows and $200m from joint venture partner Pelligra) and injected $3.1bn into the greater Adelaide economy over two decades.

It also included a mix of retail, hotel and short-term accommodation and office space as well as food and drink outlets.

The project would have included more than double the amount of open space – 57 per cent – than MAB Corporation’s proposal.

A publicly-accessible main oval would also have been created.

The plan intended to support 990 jobs over 20 years.

However, the club will now focus on a plan to relocate to Thebarton Oval.

Club chairman John Olsen said the Bowden site was only narrowly favoured over Thebarton Oval because it offered a freehold opportunity rather than a long-term lease.

Originally published as More jobs, more homes: Why the Victorian company beat the Crows to Bowden