[COM] 115 King William Street | 91m | 26lvls | Office

[crawf]

Great news... Dash Architects reported on Facebook this is about to commence demolition!





Originally wasn't a fan of this... though now I'm now looking forward to this.

[rev]

If they added a little more black, like black glass, it would make a pretty suitable office for the Commonwealth Bank.

[Will]

From the Advertiser:

Adam Internet founder Greg Hicks to commence work on high-rise CBD office tower

GIUSEPPE TAURIELLO
The Advertiser
October 21, 2014 12:00AM



INTERNET mogul turned property developer Greg Hicks is about to kick off work on a major office development which will become the city’s sixth tallest building when completed.

The $50 million project will scale 25 storeys and 87 metres, dwarfing the adjacent headquarters of Adam Internet - the company Mr Hicks established, and sold last year for $60 million.

Demolition of a three-storey building at the site will kick off next week, with construction of the new glass tower to start in the new year.

The landmark project will employ around 180 on-site workers at its peak next year before completion in mid-2016.

Mr Hicks said the landmark project offered an opportunity for local South Australian companies to make their mark on the city skyline.

They include builder Synergy Construct, Dash Architects, services consultant Lucid and structural engineering firm PT Design.

“Too often we look for the cheapest solution, not the best,” Mr Hicks said.

“This project will show that South Australia has developed some of the best and most energetic talent in the country, and what better way to show that than to invest in the right people and the right companies.”

“This project will be the next stage in their evolution and in the evolution of Adelaide, and that is exactly where I want to invest.”

Mr Hicks built Adam from a bulletin board group in 1986 to one of the country’s most successful internet service providers with 70,000 broadband customers.

He earned a $60 million payday when the company was sold to iiNet last year.

His maiden property development is the city’s first major speculative project since Kyren Group’s $100 million mixed-use tower on Franklin St.

By financing the project himself, Mr Hicks avoids the need for precommitment from tenants or purchasers.

Sandwiched between existing buildings and offering just 12 metres of frontage to the city’s busiest thoroughfare, the site presents a number of challenges, according to Synergy business director Michael Gramazio.

“There’s an extreme challenge with access - it’s unusual to be working with such a small footprint which is 350-odd square metres,” he said.

“It’s really a courtyard block in the suburbs and you’re building a 25-storey office building.”

“In lieu of the crane being positioned on King William St, which causes a whole heap of logistical issues, we repositioned it inside the lift shaft so it’s inside the core of the building, which is reasonably common interstate but it’s never been done in Adelaide before.”

[Dvious]

So, two 25+ level buildings going up at once, has this ever happened simultaneously before in Adelaide? About bloody time we got some height in our skyline. I just hope we get some more tallies in the years to come!

[how good is he]

Can't understand why one would invest so much money on building a high rise here considering just how small the foot print of the site is. Seems bizarre that for only 12m frontage why go for an 87m building...surely better sites avail. At the very least the low rise buildings next door should have been bought and incorporated. I assume also no carparks for this 25 storey development...good luck leasing it.

[slenderman]

So this will be the equal fifth tallest with the Intercontinental, or equal 6th if you count the ANZ spire, but will be pushed down to equal 7th when Vue is completed? Not bad.

Dvious, I don't think we've ever had two 25 floor buildings at once. Amazingly, our only buildings over 25 floors are Westpac house from the late 80s and the Black Stump from the 70s. Hopefully we'll soon break the 100m barrier again.

My only complaint is the Northern wall. It's pretty ugly and will likely never be hidden with the lowrise heritage buildings next to it (unless one day a tower is built above them).

[rev]

Can't understand why one would invest so much money on building a high rise here considering just how small the foot print of the site is. Seems bizarre that for only 12m frontage why go for an 87m building...surely better sites avail. At the very least the low rise buildings next door should have been bought and incorporated. I assume also no carparks for this 25 storey development...good luck leasing it.

I don't get what street frontage size has to do with the height of the building.

No car park on site is over come by the tram stop out the front of this building. Though there is car parks within walking distance.

[phenom]

I can't wait for this building to go up. Sure it would be 'nice' if there was a way to buy up some of the surrounding buildings but given the strata arrangements there I doubt that would be possible even if money were of no consequence, not to mention the building's nature would change with a much bigger floorplate design. As this building is basically going to be strata as well, it's essential it is as 'tall' as possible now because it will be a long, long time and very difficult for redevelopment in the future.

[Ben]

I can't wait for this building to go up. Sure it would be 'nice' if there was a way to buy up some of the surrounding buildings but given the strata arrangements there I doubt that would be possible even if money were of no consequence, not to mention the building's nature would change with a much bigger floorplate design. As this building is basically going to be strata as well, it's essential it is as 'tall' as possible now because it will be a long, long time and very difficult for redevelopment in the future.

The Adam internet building next door has various owners. I remmber seeing a while back you could buy say "level 6". And I have seen various other levels advertised aswell. This makes it near impossible for this site to be developed.

[how good is he]

I thought it would be obvious that I was talking about trying to amalgamate the next door Ambassadors Hotel site which is seriously undeveloped at 3-storeys. Even at the sake of keeping the heritage facade and building behind it, like the Quest hotel further down King William St.
The problem with a small footprint is that after you put in all the services like lifts, fire stairwells, corridors, rubbish chutes, toilets and/or kitchenettes etc how much actual useable/lettable space remains per floor?
If the Ambassadors site ever gets developed in the future into a high rise, all these services need to be duplicated again.

[Will]

I thought it would be obvious that I was talking about trying to amalgamate the next door Ambassadors Hotel site which is seriously undeveloped at 3-storeys. Even at the sake of keeping the heritage facade and building behind it, like the Quest hotel further down King William St.
The problem with a small footprint is that after you put in all the services like lifts, fire stairwells, corridors, rubbish chutes, toilets and/or kitchenettes etc how much actual useable/lettable space remains per floor?
If the Ambassadors site ever gets developed in the future into a high rise, all these services need to be duplicated again.

There is demand for small office tenancies in the current market (<500sqm2), but there is currently little to no demand for large floor plates. Hence, out options are a skinny 25 level building with around 7000smq2 of office space, or essentially nothing at all.

[Will]

From the Advertiser:

Synergy Construct caps off busy year with major office project win

Giuseppe Tauriello COMMERCIAL PROPERTY
The Advertiser
October 21, 2014 12:00AM


ADELAIDE commercial builder Synergy Construct has been chosen to build the city’s first speculative office development since Kyren Group’s $100 million mixed-used development on Franklin St.

The $50 million project at 115 King William St is being developed by Adam Internet founder Greg Hicks and will comprise 25 storeys and add around 6500sqm to the city’s office supply.

In just its second year of operation, Synergy has been involved in major projects across the city, including Asian Pacific Group’s The Watson Hotel and Apartments project.

The company was engaged by the same developer to deliver foundation and facade works at the city’s highest residential tower - the Vue project at the southern end of King William St.

Synergy business director Michael Gramazio said the company’s growth, including a workforce of 10 construction management staff, was due to new innovations being introduced into the Adelaide market.

“We’ve got $35 million worth of work in hand over two projects and then we’ve got a few projects that are pending that we’re in the box seat for,” he said. “The builders on the top end of town generally have a conservative approach to construction and I suppose for us, needing to make our mark, we need to test the boundaries a lot harder.

“It’s about adopting interstate and overseas construction techniques here in Adelaide, which has been traditionally slow to take up new things - if they’re doing it in Sydney and Melbourne why can’t we do it here?”

Innovation was key to the company’s latest project win where it proposed an alternative construction technique to minimise disruption on one of the city’s busiest thoroughfares, cut construction time and reduce costs.

“We put in two bids for this project, including an alternative structural design,” Synergy operations director Craig Weaver said.

“That alternative is the one you will see built - it will have a steel frame rather than a concrete frame and the crane will be positioned in the lift shaft rather than on the street - the first time this will be done in Adelaide and with less disruption to the city.”

Mr Gramazio said the company’s string of high profile projects had elevated its name in the local industry.

“Being head contractor on such an exciting project, using a lot of innovative techniques, being faster and more cost effective than the other builders has put us in good stead to do what we came out to do, and that is build multistorey buildings in the Adelaide CBD,” he said. “$5 million to $30 million high density residential and office in the CBD has always been a key target area for us.”

[rev]

all these services need to be duplicated again.

I got an idea, let's just build one giant ass building covering the whole of the Adelaide City.
That way there wont be any duplicate services.
Good luck getting everyone to agree where all those services will go though.

[Waewick]

I thought it would be obvious that I was talking about trying to amalgamate the next door Ambassadors Hotel site which is seriously undeveloped at 3-storeys. Even at the sake of keeping the heritage facade and building behind it, like the Quest hotel further down King William St.
The problem with a small footprint is that after you put in all the services like lifts, fire stairwells, corridors, rubbish chutes, toilets and/or kitchenettes etc how much actual useable/lettable space remains per floor?
If the Ambassadors site ever gets developed in the future into a high rise, all these services need to be duplicated again.

There is demand for small office tenancies in the current market (<500sqm2), but there is currently little to no demand for large floor plates. Hence, out options are a skinny 25 level building with around 7000smq2 of office space, or essentially nothing at all.

sounds like the perfect floor size for Adelaide businesses really.

Good on him for having a crack, there are not many brand new small floor plate buildings out there as developers generally look to attract Government or near government tenants to lock in value.

[crawf]

On my lunch break today, I saw a truck with road closure equipment parked next to this site.

And guessing by the title change.... save to say this is finally underway!