Walker Corporation gets green light for second tower at Festival Plaza in Adelaide CBD

A contentious 160m-tall tower has been approved for a prominent Adelaide site, despite a last-ditch attempt from high-profile South Australians to stop it.

A 160m second tower at Festival Plaza has been approved by the state’s peak planning body, despite a last-ditch attempt by more than 120 prominent South Australians to stop its development.

A former premier, the National Trust of SA and architects, were among those to write an open letter demanding the $600m project be halted, but it failed to win over the State Commission Assessment Panel which approved the skyscraper on Wednesday.

New landmark second tower at the Festival Plaza site. Picture: Walker Corporation

SCAP reported the 38-storey tower, by the Walker Corporation, was not considered seriously at variance with the planning and design code, in minutes released on Thursday.

The tower will rise to the north of Parliament House and would generate more than 1300 jobs during construction and was expected to be completed by 2027.

It would become the first 6-star NABERS energy building in Adelaide, with the largest solar array of any commercial building in the city and become carbon neutral by 2028.

It’s the second skyscraper – typically defined as being 150m in height – given the green light for the city, following the approval of the Freemasons’ 183m-tall tower behind Grand Lodge in July.

The second Festival Tower building is expected to be finished construction before the Freemasons’ tower.

The 160m-tall second tower. Picture: Walker Corporation

The skyscraper will tower over Parliament House, next to the first Festival Tower. Picture: Walker Corporation

The tower would span almost 50,000sq m and include 30 levels of office space, cafes and a rooftop bar and restaurant with uninterrupted views of the Adelaide Hills.

Premier Peter Malinauskas said the development would “transform our capital for the better” and place Adelaide as a “truly global city”.

“The tower will generate an estimated billion dollars in annual economic activity and ensure a large number of people are constantly populating Festival Plaza, ensuring it is a truly active and vibrant location,” Mr Malinauskas said.

“This government actively intervened to overturn our predecessor’s vision for a three-storey building which would have completely blocked views of Parliament House and would have delivered little economic uplift.”

Cafes are included as part of the second tower at Festival Plaza. Picture: Walker Corporation

The foyer of the second tower at the Festival Plaza site. Picture: Walker Corporation

It would be built adjacent to Walker Corporation’s 29-storey One Festival Tower which has Flinders University as its anchor tenant.

The new tower was expected to attract 9500 workers to the riverbank and generate $1.3bn in economic activity.

The Save Festival Plaza Alliance, which includes former premier Lynn Arnold, described the building as a “Trump-like tower” which would never have been approved beside Westminster or Capitol Hill.

Greens MP Robert Simms said he would introduce a motion in the Upper House when parliament resumes next week to call on the state government to prevent its construction.

“They cannot wash their hands of this by claiming that they are powerless to intervene in the planning system when just last year we saw them pass legislation to save the Crown & Anchor Hotel from its proposed demolition,” Mr Simms said.

Originally published as Walker Corporation gets green light for second tower at Festival Plaza in Adelaide CBD