Adelaide approves five high-rise developments in a single day, adding 1,400 residential and student beds
HouGarden Australia, 28 September — The approvals were granted by the State Commission Assessment Panel (SCAP), South Australia's state-level planning assessment body, and cover projects spanning the Adelaide CBD, North Adelaide and the coastal suburb of Glenelg.
The largest project is a 36-storey purpose-built student accommodation tower at 101 Grenfell Street and 47 Wyatt Street. It will provide 858 beds across 724 units, along with communal facilities and an outdoor terrace, and is expected to rank among Adelaide's tallest buildings once complete.
A second student accommodation project at 77 Grenfell Street will convert an existing 22-storey office building into 429 units offering 508 beds. The adaptive reuse development — which involves repurposing the existing structure rather than demolishing and rebuilding — will also include ground-level retail and communal spaces.
A 22-storey mixed-use tower at 11 Sultram Place will add 219 residential apartments above a ground-floor commercial tenancy. The building will include more than 200 secure bicycle parks and communal spaces for residents.
In North Adelaide, St Ann's College will expand onto Melbourne Street with a four-storey building containing 33 student rooms, a staff residence and communal facilities. The design retains a significant lemon-scented gum tree on the site.
SCAP also approved changes to a hotel development on Moseley Street in Glenelg, Adelaide's beachside suburb. The building will grow by four storeys to reach 14 levels while retaining and reusing the heritage-listed Alexandra Terrace. Plans include a rooftop bar, terrace and swimming pool, an expanded wellness area and additional hotel rooms.
The five approvals follow a series of major Adelaide projects, including the Festival Plaza skyscraper and several student accommodation towers linked to the new Adelaide University.
South Australian Planning Minister Nick Champion said the scale of the day's decisions was notable. 'Five major approvals in one day is remarkable and shows just how much confidence there is in South Australia right now,' he said. 'More purpose-built student accommodation means more rental homes freed up for South Australian families, in the city and in the suburbs.'
Bruce Djite, executive director of the Property Council of Australia's South Australian division — a separate organisation from New Zealand's Property Council New Zealand — credited the outcomes to early engagement and the state government's pre-lodgement process. 'With South Australia's economy on a strong growth trajectory, it is encouraging to see continued capital being attracted to the state and deployed across the economy,' he said. 'To fully realise the opportunities ahead, South Australia will need to attract more people to live, work and invest here, supporting the investment, jobs and growth that will shape the state's future.'


