News & Discussion: General CBD Development

[Patrick_27]

Continued...

[Patrick_27]

Continued 2.0

[Patrick_27]

Continued 3.0

[Nort]

Interesting ideas.

[SRW]

Absolutely not the 'isthmus'.

The second option looks like a more attractive and useable version of the current forecourt, so I support that in lieu of anything more significant.

I'm sympathetic to the idea that we do need to protect open space on North Terrace as it keeps the 'parklands' easily accessible from our busiest district. The only other opportunity will be if the Adelaide Law Building and adjacent plaza are ever replaced.

[VinyTapestry849]

Updated the Wikipedia page. Numbering I'll fix later.

[bm7500]

144 South Terrace - 'Park Tce.' apartments

Above ground works on the tilt-up walling and crane tower erection commenced yesterday - this one is set to be 30m and 9 floors high.

The heritage building at the front of this site has had its' facade restoration partially completed.

[gnrc_louis]

Could someone post this please: https://www.adelaidenow.com.au/subscrib ... our=append

[Alyx]

Could someone post this please: https://www.adelaidenow.com.au/subscrib ... our=append

The owner of the Telstra House office tower in Adelaide will invest in a multimillion-dollar revamp of the building in a bid to secure new tenants to replace the telco.

The investment by ASX-listed Australian Unity Office Fund comes four years after a $19m refurbishment of the building, and will include changes to the design of the forecourt, ground floor entrance and lobby, the introduction of a concierge service and several new retail tenancies.

New co-working spaces, improved end-of trip facilities, lift upgrades and refurbishments across multiple floors will be designed to “maximise tenants’ occupancy and wellness experience”.

Australian Unity Office Fund fund manager Nikki Panagopoulos said the project offered an opportunity to “re-create an Adelaide landmark”.

She said the works would be “substantial” but it was too early to provide a cost estimate.

“This is a significant investment to create an A-grade, modern contemporary office building with energy efficient and green star credentials,” she said.

Telstra announced this week it would in 2023 depart its longstanding home on Pirie Street, and move to 6000sq m in Charter Hall’s $450m development on King William Street, which is currently under construction.

It has occupied the Pirie St tower since it was built in 1987, and its departure will leave more than 90 per cent of the building’s office space vacant.

Australian Unity Group, Viridian Financial Services and Babcock Offshore Services currently operate from the top two floors of the 25,000sq m building.

Australian Unity Office Fund says subject to development approval, it expects to begin construction by the middle of next year.

The first stage of upgrades would be completed within 18 months.

Ms Panagopoulos said the fund was also working on longer term plans for a facade upgrade.

“Any full tower facade upgrade will be a comprehensive upgrade and possibly incorporating full height glass for added natural light, and optimised with the introduction of renewable energy initiatives integrated into the facade.”

[SRW]

This building is one of the few that still has a well-landscaped forecourt, so I hope they retain more of that as they refine design.

[gnrc_louis]

This building is one of the few that still has a well-landscaped forecourt, so I hope they retain more of that as they refine design.

Agreed. Cheers for posting too Alyx.

This is a fairly big building with I assume pretty good grade office space, in a prime city site. Add to that the Walker Tower in progress and the new offices on the Market plaza site, it makes it hard to imagine projects like 42-56 Franklin St happening any time soon.

[Algernon]

This building is one of the few that still has a well-landscaped forecourt, so I hope they retain more of that as they refine design.

Agreed. Cheers for posting too Alyx.

This is a fairly big building with I assume pretty good grade office space, in a prime city site. Add to that the Walker Tower in progress and the new offices on the Market plaza site, it makes it hard to imagine projects like 42-56 Franklin St happening any time soon.

You can see some internal shots on the realty websites as there are sizeable chunks up for lease. It looks surprisingly good inside (although it was already refurbed). Only thing that gives the game away is the windows and lack of natural light penetration into the building. It almost looks and feels the part as a new development, just not quite. Still, it's rated A grade space and you can do a whole lot worse.

[Patrick_27]

Perfect example for those who push the point that Adelaide should be building more large-scale (or, 'tall') office buildings that we simply don't need. Whilst I personally feel that both the Commonwealth Bank building and the Telstra building are looking somewhat tired, and these major tenants moving on from their respected office buildings will inspire rejuvenation... The likelihood is that for the Pirie Street building to even come close to filling that 90% tenancy rate will sure enough have to take from another office building in Adelaide. It's a constant cycle, and still keeps vacancy rates high. Obviously with exception to Renew Adelaide/SA Govt developments, but these property firms make little to no effort to attract new businesses to Adelaide to tenant their buildings, and sure, it's not their job to do so. But this is why I don't support the idea of building more commercial office space in Adelaide under the notion of 'build it and they will come'. For a property firm, so long as a building has a high occupancy rate, it doesn't matter where they have come from. They're not in the same mindset as the state government who want new industry here and want to expand the business sector.


With that said, I welcome this facelift. But I feel the windows all the way up this building need a re-treatment, for me it's the one thing that has always had me hating on this building.

[citywatcher]

Perfect example for those who push the point that Adelaide should be building more large-scale (or, 'tall') office buildings that we simply don't need. Whilst I personally feel that both the Commonwealth Bank building and the Telstra building are looking somewhat tired, and these major tenants moving on from their respected office buildings will inspire rejuvenation... The likelihood is that for the Pirie Street building to even come close to filling that 90% tenancy rate will sure enough have to take from another office building in Adelaide. It's a constant cycle, and still keeps vacancy rates high. Obviously with exception to Renew Adelaide/SA Govt developments, but these property firms make little to no effort to attract new businesses to Adelaide to tenant their buildings, and sure, it's not their job to do so. But this is why I don't support the idea of building more commercial office space in Adelaide under the notion of 'build it and they will come'. For a property firm, so long as a building has a high occupancy rate, it doesn't matter where they have come from. They're not in the same mindset as the state government who want new industry here and want to expand the business sector.


With that said, I welcome this facelift. But I feel the windows all the way up this building need a re-treatment, for me it's the one thing that has always had me hating on this building.

Why do you bother posting on a development site when you don't want to see any ?

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[AG]

It's not quite as straightforward as not building new office buildings because there's too much commercial space. There is demand for newer office space with large floorplates and good amenities. Telstra's commitment to 60 King William Street is testament to this. It makes more commercial sense to have all Adelaide staff across 3 floors rather than 20 floors.

The challenge at the moment is making the most out of the older office stock, which there is a lot of in Adelaide. Some of this is stock being withdrawn or repurposed into other uses. Without investment, most of this stock will continue to remain vacant, which is something that Australian Unity has likely realised with 30 Pirie Street. Quintessential Equity, who recently bought the CommBank Building on King William Street has also probably realised this.

The overall vacancy rate for offices in Adelaide is currently falling (currently about 15%), so it's a myth to suggest that the amount of vacant office space is growing. However, tall buildings with small floorplates will not likely fly in the current market.