Lutheran Church selling off historic home at North Adelaide after 100 years

A sprawling and partially heritage-listed North Adelaide site will be carved up and sold to developers as the church that’s owned it for a century searches for a new home.

The sprawling home of the Lutheran Church in Australia, which includes its national headquarters and residential college in North Adelaide, will be carved up and sold to developers as the religious group searches for a new home after 100 years at the site.

The church’s links to the property date back to 1922, when the United Evangelical Lutheran Church in Australia purchased and established it as the original location for Immanuel College before the college’s move to Novar Gardens in 1957.

The North Adelaide site later evolved into the main tertiary education institution for the church in Australia, providing education and residential accommodation to pastors, teachers, church workers and volunteers through the Australian Lutheran College.

The Australian Lutheran College site in North Adelaide. Picture: Supplied by McGees Property

However, executive officer of the church Brett Hausler said with the adoption of new methods of education, the church no longer needed a site of the scale of the North Adelaide property, which stretches across 1.89ha – larger than the ground area of Adelaide Oval.

“The Australian Lutheran College is moving from a residential model to a distributed learning model, so we’re using technology and other means,” he said.

“Students will still come in, but only for short periods of time. They don’t need to be housed there for four or five years, so it doesn’t really fit where we’re going in that context.

An artist map showing the site being sold in North Adelaide. Picture: Supplied by McGees Property

“We’re looking to rationalise it effectively. We’ll look at remaining in Adelaide. I think that’s really important – a lot of our roots are here – but we’ll look at it in other ways.”

Mr Hausler said proceeds from the sale would be used to support the mission and ministry of the church, while it was currently on the search for a new home, potentially in the Adelaide CBD or city fringe.

Bounded by Ward, Jeffcott and Archer streets, the North Adelaide site is being offered through McGees Property in 12 separate allotments comprising a mix of residential apartments, hostel rooms and townhouses, an office building, refectory, library, vacant development sites and State Heritage-listed Hebart Hall on Jeffcott St with its striking clock tower.

Height limits in the area vary, reaching up to six levels towards the centre of the site.

McGees Property director James Juers said he expected strong interest from a wide range of investors and developers keen to capitalise on the blue ribbon location.

“It really is a unique proposition and could support just about any project in value terms, whether that’s residential, retirement-type accommodation,” he said.