[COM] Festival Plaza Tower 1 | 115m | 27 Levels | Office

[CDJ]

Just to clarify, are these cranes for the Carpark and the Plaza, or the office tower? Or both?

Tower in this case

This crane and the next two (3 in total) are for the basement carpark. The basement contract includes the core and columns contained within the carpark, to support the tower above.
Contract for the tower (above plaza level) hasn't been awarded, so no cranes for the tower until that occurs and contractor mobilises.

[Smithy85]

Story online now on the Tiser...

Been a “breakthrough” in negotiations. No second tower.
Amended tower design submitted and to be delivered “as a priority”.

2 more cranes up in April to assist construction of carpark and plaza.

[Ho Really]

Here's the article Smithy85 for those that haven't got access...

Lang Walker’s $600 million Festival Plaza development poised for a major breakthrough
Paul Starick, Chief Reporter, Sunday Mail (SA)
March 21, 2020 9:30pm

Developers of Adelaide’s prized Festival Plaza site are confident of soon obtaining final approvals for the $600 million project, including a 23-storey tower and three-level entertainment/retail complex.

Walker Corporation says it is now working closely with the State Government to “deliver the tower as a priority”, in what would be a breakthrough in an eight-year saga.

Concept drawings released exclusively to the Sunday Mail show just one office tower for the King William Rd site, between Parliament House and the Festival Centre, signalling that Sydney tycoon Lang Walker has shelved plans for a proposed second tower.

Walker Corporation had been at loggerheads with the State Government over the second tower, amid concerns it would excessively crowd the prominent public square.

The concept drawings also show escalators linking the Riverbank footbridge’s southern end to the Plaza, between the Festival Centre and the Adelaide Casino.

These escalators were previously not included in plans, which was understood to be a cost-saving measure for the Government’s Plaza funding share.

Walker Corporation senior development manager Ben Moore said the five-storey, 1560-space, underground carpark’s approvals were complete and, as part of the construction, a tower crane was now operating on the site.

“With all the carpark approvals now in place, we’re working closely with the Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure and Renewal SA to obtain final tower approvals that will allow us to deliver the tower as a priority,” he said.

“The basement slab is currently being constructed and two more tower cranes will be installed in April.”

Mr Moore said the Plaza’s first component, including reopening Station Rd next to the Casino, would be finished later this year, while the carpark and other Plaza stages would be complete by the middle of next year.

“We’re very optimistic we’ll obtain the approvals we need shortly to deliver the tower and Plaza,” he said.

“The tower will be an A-grade, five-star, green-star office space and is expected to attract local, interstate and global blue-chip organisations.

“We expect to announce about half the tenants by mid-year.”

The Advertiser this month revealed the long-awaited Plaza carpark would not be ready in time for Adelaide Casino’s $330 million expansion opening in October, as had been expected, despite Casino operator SkyCity’s deal to lease 750 spaces.

Transport, Infrastructure and Local Government Minister Stephan Knoll said the Government would “continue to work closely with all key stakeholders to make the Festival Plaza project a reality”.

“I welcome the progress made at the site, and while it’s disappointing that the carpark won’t be completed on time, we’ll work to ensure that the contractors meet the timing obligations on the Plaza and tower,” said Mr Knoll, also the Planning Minister.

“We’ve worked hard to ensure the design meets the needs of everyone who will use it with changes to improve the experience, including escalators, shaded areas and an altered water feature.

“Once complete, this will be a world-class public and events space that will benefit all South Australians.”

The Advertiser

Cheers

[rev]

[The Scooter Guy]

Does anyone know what's going on with those pop-up tenancies on the ramp by the way? Only Elementary ever seems to be open regularly now, and the makeup place sporadically - the others popped up, traded for a week and then seem to have remained shut ever since.

The former newsagent next to the kiosk has been shut since late 2015.
What can be done to bring it back to life?

[arki]

While the tower itself is inoffensive it is obviously not befitting of the site. A bit of curvature would have been nice to give it a point of difference and continuity with the new casino. But at least it will block out the ugliness that has become of 1KWS and Stamford.

[gnrc_louis]

I think one thing this pandemic will likely prove is that a lot of office jobs can easily be done from home just as effectively. It's' possible a lot more employees will demand to work from home and employers may also see the benefit in them doing so i.e. cost saving on the size of offices they lease. So while that probably won't impact this project and others close to starting, it'll be interesting to see what effect it has to future office proposals.

[SRW]

This is a new design. The article mentions other concept images; were they available on the website? Also, it's down from 27 to 23 storeys which is better but still too tall IMO (especially while the design remains seemingly unsympathetic to its surrounds). The timelines for completion are laughable.

[Patrick_27]

This is a new design. The article mentions other concept images; were they available on the website? Also, it's down from 27 to 23 storeys which is better but still too tall IMO (especially while the design remains seemingly unsympathetic to its surrounds). The timelines for completion are laughable.

My thoughts exactly. Surely Walker could find more value in developing a larger Arts/hospitality precinct here, rather than offices... If this impending lockdown has shown anything for Adelaide is that whilst there are still elements of fragility amongst the arts, retail and hospitality sectors; they're still tough bastards despite a downturn in trade. Whereas what's to say this office building won't just be taking anchor tenants from other buildings around Adelaide?

[Will]

This is a new design. The article mentions other concept images; were they available on the website? Also, it's down from 27 to 23 storeys which is better but still too tall IMO (especially while the design remains seemingly unsympathetic to its surrounds). The timelines for completion are laughable.

I suspect it is still 27 levels (3 level retail podium + 23 levels of office space + 1 level plant)

[SRW]

This is a new design. The article mentions other concept images; were they available on the website? Also, it's down from 27 to 23 storeys which is better but still too tall IMO (especially while the design remains seemingly unsympathetic to its surrounds). The timelines for completion are laughable.

I suspect it is still 27 levels (3 level retail podium + 23 levels of office space + 1 level plant)

I guess it wouldn't be a shock that the 'tiser got it wrong.

[Smithy85]

The tower section of the second crane is complete and a concrete pump has been erected. There has been a significant amount of concrete poured too.

[stronic]

Adelaide / Аделаида by Dmitrii Loktionov, on Flickr

Adelaide / Аделаида by Dmitrii Loktionov, on Flickr

[Mpol03]

Clad the Intercontinental in the same glass and it’d be quite the site. Dreams are free.

[rogue]

^^^ i'd be happy if they just painted the lift cores at the IC