[U/C] 88 O'Connell Street | 63m | 13, 13 and 15 Levels | Mixed Use

[skyliner]

Good! (except for the one block long hole in the meantime).As bm7500 implies - encouraging. That side of Oconnell st. really needs the updating plus the attendant life that this construction would bring.

ADELAIDE - TOWARDS A GREATER CITY SKYLINE

[Will]

A small step forward for this development is expected to be completed next Monday when the ACC DAP is expected to grant planning APPROVAL to an application by Cafe Paesano for outdoor dining along Archer Street. Such a step will facillitate its move from its current site to its new site in the redeveloped North Adelaide Village. This will allow Cafe Paesano to vacate its current premises to facilitate its demolition.

[bm7500]

Internal fitout of Cafe Paesano's new home in the North Adelaide Village is well underway. I would say that their new location should be ready for them to move into it by the end of March.

[Ben]

From the Messenger:

Le Cornu site on hold

by Adam Todd

THE economic downturn has delayed the former Le Cornu site development - prolonging the 20-year saga on O’Connell St - although developer the Makris Group says the project is still going ahead.

More than nine months have passed since the State Government granted development approval for a $150 million, six-storey residential and retail complex. However, there has been no change at the North Adelaide site, which has sat vacant since 1989.

The first stage of the development, the demolition of three buildings at the fringe a Thai restaurant, Cafe Paesano and the BankSA building has not yet happened.

Makris Group CEO John Blunt told the City Messenger this week he expected the demolitions to happen later this year.

“Now all the tenants have vacated, we’re looking at ‘soon’ for the demolition, but we haven’t quite tidied all that up yet,” he said.

Mr Blunt conceded the project had been delayed by the global financial crisis.

“We always had a couple of years to get it going anyway. Realistically, I suppose you’re a little more cautious in the current environment.”

Mr Blunt said the residential part of the project would not be released onto the market until at least next year, with construction to start once sales thresholds had been achieved, likely mid-2010.

Construction must start by September 2010 under the terms of the development approval.

“We’re aiming to launch the sales campaign at a time where we think things will be slightly improved from where they were six months ago.

“We’ve got other projects on the go and we probably want to make sure they’re out of the way so we can fully dedicate ourselves to it anyway.”

The project was granted major project status in May 2007, in a move the State Government said would fast-track development on the site.

At the time, Premier Mike Rann said: “This site has a long history of development inactivity, and stands as a testament to the failure of successive City Councils to deliver quality development on this site for the local community.”

Yet North Adelaide Society chairman Ed Briedis said the major project status had failed to fast-track the development.

“It’s ironic that everything was supposed to be fast-tracked here we are nothing’s happening, so what was all the rush about?

“It was portrayed as being a super-big deal, worthy of having the government involved directly.

“Now we’re still in the same boat and the longer it goes on, the easier it is to point out the developers are as guilty of nothing happening there as anyone else.”

Planning Minister Paul Holloway said he was confident the development would proceed.

“It is understandable if there is a delay in proceeding with work due to the extreme difficulty businesses currently face in raising funds due to the global financial crisis.”

[AtD]

Is it just me, or does the headline of that story contradict the argument. I read it as saying the project is progressing, albeit slower than expected.

[skyliner]

That's the way I read it - slowed by the GFR. The soonewr it gets built the better - it's like the black hole of Adelaide there ATM.

ADELAIDE - TOWARDS A GREATER CITY SKYLINE

[Ben]

Sandy Wilkonson is starting to really get on my nerves.

From The City Messenger:

Le Cornu halt bid

by Adam Todd

ADELAIDE City Council will try to halt demolition of three remaining buildings at the fringe of the old Le Cornu site at North Adelaide.

Less than a week after coming under fire from business leaders and residents for being too small-minded over a decision to block a 13-storey CBD building because it would be “too tall”, city councillors are at it again.

This time the council is concerned premature demolition of the remaining three buildings on the old Le Cornu site which has been largely vacant for 20 years will leave an even bigger empty hole on O’Connell St.

The council will write to the State Government asking it to reject a demolition application submitted by developer Makris Group last month, until it is ready to build the $150 million, six-storey residential and retail complex on the site in 2010.

Property Council of Australia state executive director Nathan Paine said the decision was bad for development and the council had its priorities wrong.

“What we need ... is a council that’s promoting development, not trying to put a glass box around Adelaide and closing it off for any future growth,” he said.

“Anything which reduces the likelihood of development in the city during the financial crisis should be seen as a negative.”

Business SA CEO Peter Vaughan blasted the council for halting demolition.

“It’s clear the council’s track form on this matter is they opposed what was proposed for the Le Cornu site and that’s why the government in desparation took it out of their hands,” he said.

“This smacks of an attempt to just hold-up the process for the sake of a bit of a dog in the manger attitude.

“That whole Le Cornu site is the greatest eyesore and greatest embarrassement to Adelaide and anything that can be done to move on that block is to be welcomed.”

The State Government granted conditional development approval in September last year.

However, the development has been slowed by the economic downturn, and Makris says construction may not start until mid-2010.

The first stage is the demolition of three buildings a Thai restaurant, Cafe Paesano and a BankSA building.

Cr Sandy Wilkinson, who moved the motion at Monday night’s, June 29, council meeting, said it would be a mistake to demolish the buildings too early.

“It’s bad enough having the rest of the site as a cleared vacant site. It would compound the mistake that was made years ago to demolish the rest of the buildings on the site,” he said.

“The Le Cornu site doesn’t look bad at all when seen from the intersection of Tynte St because those buildings are still there, it looks terrible from the corner of Archer St because the buildings have been demolished there.”

Makris Group did not respond to the City Messenger’s enquiries before presstime.

[skyliner]

I remember (about 2004) that at least one of those bldgs was pretty daggy then - the area will probably look better, not worse with the structures gone - especially if not maintained by any owners as well.

VERY keen to see this project get moving - will add substantially to the inner city atmosphere rather than the protected 'village feel' of the place. Much more activity/life as well.

ADELAIDE - TOWARDS A GREATER CITY SKYLINE

[bm7500]

This is just another act of desperation and childishness by the ACC, this time its Sandy's turn as the perpetrator. :wank:

The less the ACC & Councillors have to do with any development in Adelaide the better!

[Just build it]

Let me guess, he doesn't want his view from the outside tables at the Oxford ruined while he eats his 'urban chic' burger and beer lunch....

[Port Adelaide Fan]

Finally, an end to Le Cornu site feud

CON Makris will start construction at the controversial former Le Cornu site on O'Connell St early next year, bringing to an end a bitter and drawn-out feud with the Adelaide City Council.

But the man who is arguably the state's largest property developer has said he is unlikely to spend another dollar within the Adelaide CBD, saying "life is too short" to deal with the intransigent and, he says, "conflicted" council.

The council has often been criticised for standing in the way of development, with the Le Cornu site, the now-shelved plan to redevelop the Victoria Park Race Course, and the stagnant state of Victoria Square cited by critics as examples.

Mr Makris, whose family interests are reportedly worth more than $1 billion, said it was "his dream" to develop the site, which has been vacant since 1989.

His original dream, to build a seven-storey residential and commercial project, including a prestige seven-star boutique hotel, was never officially lodged with the council, but faced strong opposition, especially from Councillor Anne Moran.

The proposed development, which was later revised to a nine-storey project, breached the council's height restrictions for the area, which limit building heights to three storeys.

The State Government stepped in, awarding the proposal major project status in May 2007, and final approval in September last year.

Mr Makris has now assembled a team of consultants to make his dream come true, including Synergy Project Management, Ignite, Bestec, Wallbridge & Gilbert, Rider Levett Bucknall, Brock Real Estate and Toop & Toop.



"When this is finished, it's going to become the focus of Adelaide," he said. "I want to give something to this beautiful city where I live."

It will be the last development he does in the city, however.

"I haven't got time. Life is so precious, and I haven't got the time to argue with . . . people that have got no idea," Mr Makris said.

"A developer wants to spend millions of dollars to make something fantastic. These people, they try to stop it."

The $150 million, six-storey project will include 47 residential apartments, retail outlets, cafes and a pedestrian piazza. There will be 381 car parking spaces, and 350 new full-time, part-time and casual jobs will be created.

Mr Makris is not the only high-profile developer who has a gripe with the council.

Earlier this year Theo Maras called for the council to be sacked, saying it lacked leadership and was not making decisions that were in the broader interests of the state.

Former council chief executive Stuart Moseley also called for a review of how the council was elected, floating the idea of allowing city workers to vote. A frustrated State Government stepped in last July, stripping the council of planning powers for projects costing more than $10 million, and handing them to the Development Assessment Commission.

On Thursday night, the DAC approved plans for a 13-storey office block on Light Square.

The decision came just a fortnight after the council's development authority branded the building too tall for the precinct and voted against the plans.

Mr Makris this week directed a vitriolic broadside at the council, singling out Ms Moran and Lord Mayor Michael Harbison for special criticism for standing in the way of developing the site he has owned since 2001.

The site has been vacant since 1989, after being sold by the Le Cornu furniture business theprevious year.

Ms Moran has been a vocal critic of Mr Makris's plans, once saying that granting the development major project status, which the State Government did in 2007, would be an act of "insanity".

Mr Makris this week hit back, expressing the opinion that Ms Moran was "the biggest liability Adelaide has at the moment".

"The way they (the council) have operated over the years, they are disgusting," he said.

"Those people should be in the country somewhere, Port Augusta, Orroroo or somewhere."

Mr Makris expressed concern about Mr Harbison, saying because he had business interests in the city's east end, this could colour his attitude towards any major development in North Adelaide.

Ms Moran yesterday denied she was anti-development, saying she had voted to approve developments on the site every time it came to the council under the previous owners.

She pointed out that Mr Makris's plan had never been formally presented to the council. However, she would have voted against it because it was so far outside the area's development guidelines.

"He got it pretty cheaply, he got it knowing the rules," she said.

Ms Moran said the council consulted the community about the development guidelines for North Adelaide and there was an overwhelming response to maintain height restrictions. Mr Harbison yesterday declined to comment.

http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/stor ... 01,00.html

[Brando]

Mr Makris this week hit back, expressing the opinion that Ms Moran was "the biggest liability Adelaide has at the moment".

Gee, that's news to me....I wonder what would possess him to believe such a thing...

[skyliner]

Good news overall - action next year I have a feeling it WILL happen - that they will be no pulling the plug If it's Con Makris' dream.

Can't wait to see it all done. I seem to have 2 yearly gaps in coming to Adelaide. Next in Sept this year. After that will probably be done.

ADELAIDE - TOWARDS A GREATER CITY SKYLINE

[Port Adelaide Fan]

Harbo takes swipe at SA’s richest developer

LORD Mayor Michael Harbison has called on the state’s richest developer Con Makris to “show some courage” and get cracking on transforming North Adelaide’s vacant LeCornu site.

But Mr Makris has dismissed the pressure, saying he’s “working like a lizard drinking” to ensure the O’Connell St development is “like nothing Adelaide has ever seen before”.

Mr Harbison last week questioned why construction had not begun on the six-storey retail and apartment complex, 16 months after the State Government approved development of the long-vacant site.

“The State Government gave this project a green light and still nothing has been done,” Mr Harbison told the City North Messenger.

“You (the Makris Group) have got the approval, now show some courage and get on with it.”

Mr Makris last week could not provide a start date for building work.

However, he was certain the project would go ahead now he had a verbal commitment from"four or five” major retailers.

“There are a lot of people who try to spread rumours because they want us to do something quick and do something very cheaply,” Mr Makris said in response to Mr Harbison.

“But we are not going to do something like that.

“We are going to do it in our time and ensure that it is nothing like Adelaide has ever seen before.”

He said security parking and high-end fashion shops would be among the features of the new complex.

Mr Makris brought the site, which has been empty since 1989, from cinema mogul Bob Wallis in 2001.

He also owns Holdfast Shores Marina at Glenelg and recently bought a $100 million shopping centre in Endeavor Hills, Melbourne.

http://city-messenger.whereilive.com.au ... developer/

[Mpol]

So the proposals that were sent out, are no longer the plans they will be going with? There will be new designs or... what ARE the current plans?

This does sound promising. I love how Makris expressed his frustrations with the council. Well done mate.