Sensational-Adelaide.com

Prospect Rd food boom

Business6 Jun 11 @ 09:00am by LISA BACHMAYER



SETTLING IN: Cafe Komodo co-owners Melanie and David Miller say Prospect Rd has real potential.


PROSPECT Rd is shaping up as one of Adelaide’s premier wining and dining strips, with four new restaurants and cafes opening in five months, and more on the way.

Devour Dessert Bar, Cikolatte and Basil & Lemongrass Thai Cafe have all opened along the strip in the past four months.

Arriba Grill - a Mexican burrito cafe - is opening later this month.

Dining and coffee hubs already make up more than one quarter of businesses along Prospect Rd.

But Prospect Council has reported an increase in inquiries from people wanting to start more cafes and restaurants on the road, since work on its $3.5 redevelopment started in January.

The upgrade will include indented car parking and wider paved footpaths, allowing more space for outdoor dining.

Prospect’s business and economic development director Steve Harrison said he knew of three restaurateurs who were vying for the lease of the same shop front, but would not reveal the location.

“We now have an eclectic mixture of food and dining experiences,” Mr Harrison said.

“We have the nice new Turkish restaurant Cikolatte, the Indian restaurant Shankers is doing really well and Cafaacé Komodo is a roaring success and it’s hidden down an alleyway.

“We are getting a good mix of food places and it is bringing locals back to Prospect.”

Café Komodo co-owner Melanie Miller, who took over the business 18 months ago, said Prospect Rd had the potential to become a prominent wining and dining strip.

“It is still early days but once the street has had its facelift, I certainly hope it heads that way,” Mrs Miller said.

“It has a really good mix of different styles of cafes, but it would be good to see a whole lot more come so we can become like The Parade.”

Make sure you grab a copy of this week’s City North Messenger to read more about Prospect Rd’s restaurant revival.

Rebel tillers take root in McLaren Vale

Investigations Editor Bryan Littlely
From: The Advertiser
June 10, 2011 12:00AM


Grape growers (from left) Ralph Mottillo, James Hook and Brad Cameron are taking action against urban sprawl. Picture: Mark Brake Source: AdelaideNow

A NEW action group plans to tackle urban sprawl and food security using a guerrilla-style stunt tomorrow.

GroundswellSA, a group of farmers and food producers opposed to building developments engulfing valuable agricultural land, will be launched tomorrow with a guerrilla gardening event at Seaford Heights.

As many as 200 "guerrilla gardeners" will build and plant a garden on an undisclosed plot in the area earmarked for housing development.

GroundswellSA spokesman James Hook said dozens of similar lobby and action groups were forming around the state to fight against urban sprawl over valuable farming land.

"We are not anti-development, but we are looking for sustainable development, and trying to protect our farming land," Mr Hook said.

"We also wish to see transparency of political donations with regards to developers."

Mr Hook said smart development was needed to ensure farmers retained their right to cultivate and the state's food supplies are secure in the long term future.

The group is based at McLaren Vale, but has strong interest in the Adelaide Hills where the issue of urban sprawl also is affecting food producers.

Mr Hook said new members were likely to be recruited tomorrow at the Willunga Farmers Market, where the right to farm issue is a hot topic.

"We would like to see towns like this, at McLaren Vale, as something similar to a Tuscan village," he said.

"The developers who get a handle on creating these types of smart developments will be heroes."

Tomorrow, from noon, GroundswellSA members and supporters will descend on a secret Seaford Heights location and build a garden - planting beans, broccoli and other fast growing items - to raise awareness of their campaign, which is backed by independent Senator Nick Xenophon.

"We'd like to build a garden that children in the area can help to look after and one that we can get some income off to raise some money for the group," Mr Hook said.

Guerrilla gardeners are asked to meet at the McLaren Vale Visitor Centre at noon.

More information about GroundswellSA can be found at www.groundswellsa.org

sassylassy wrote:Nearby residents recently received notification from Holdfast Bay Council re the Taplins development corner of Jetty Rd and Durham St (15-23 Jetty Rd) 'By amending building setbacks, parking increased to 22 spaces, apartments increased to 20 and elevation changes'. Nice little note on the end of the letter - D/Act 1993 provides no right of appeal against Council or Dev Assessment Panels decision on a Cat 2 Development. Why even bother to send the letter then?????

Pasadena development builds jobs

27 Jun 11 @ 10:00am by Daniel Frangos

THE Pasadena Shopping Centre redevelopment will generate more than 150 jobs, its owners say.

Work at the precinct is in full swing, having started in December after most of the original precinct was demolished.

When it opens in February, the Fiveash Drive centre will feature more than 20 shops and an underground carpark.

“This will be a boost for local employment because about 150-odd new jobs will be created once the development is completed,” Commercial Retail Group general manager Mike Rutherford said.

“The supermarket is being extended by 20 per cent, which will create 20 to 30 extra jobs just there.

“Then the other jobs will come from the range of stores from the post office, to the travel agent, medical services, cafes, restaurant, speciality food stores, the bakery and so on.

“It will provide services to the area that aren’t there now.

“With the supermarket to be extended and fully refurbished, this will give customers an even larger range and provide an even better shopping experience.”

Marcus Collins, from Australian Asset Management Services (AAMS), which will jointly handle lease arrangements at the new centre, said the development was going according to schedule.

“We are looking to substantially complete the development by Christmas,” Mr Collins said.

“We already have anchor tenants including Dan Murphy’s, Target and Neds discount variety, plus a range of high profile specialty retailers and services.

“In the meantime, the existing Foodland, pharmacy and X Lotto are trading as normal.”

Eight storeys tipped for Norwood Coles site

Local News26 Jul 11 @ 01:00pm by Sarah Garvis


AN EIGHT-storey apartment block has been floated for Norwood Mall as Coles considers how it will counter the burgeoning popularity of its Foodland rival on the other side of The Parade.

Coles has confirmed it is “in discussions” about its Norwood outlet, and one option is believed to be a towering apartment block - possibly with an underground car park - built above a redeveloped supermarket.

This would fit neatly with the State Government’s push for higher density living in city rim suburbs, to help accommodate population increases during the next 30 years.

In a meeting with the Eastern Courier Messenger, Planning SA deputy chief executive John Hanlon said there was potential for eight storeys to be built at the Coles site.

Other areas along The Parade could be suitable for six-storey developments, he said.

“Our aim is to concentrate the infill around business areas to create vitality and ambience,” Mr Hanlon said.

Norwood, Payneham & St Peters Mayor Robert Bria had heard Coles was looking at developing its site.

“The first thing we need to do is get the policy settings right, including overshadowing, interface and design issues, before we start talking about building heights,” he said.

“We also need to take into account the existing built form around possible development opportunities.

“I’m sure Coles will make their intentions clear fairly soon.”

Coles/Myer bought Norwood Mall in 2000, taking over the site from Woolworths when its lease ran out in February 2004.

Coles then completed an $8 million revamp of the mall, including new shops and toilets, later that year. In 2002, plans were unveiled to transform the neighbouring Parkade Shopping Centre and Growers Market site into a $20 million shopping complex called Norwood Place.

The new complex included more parking spaces and an expanded Foodland, which grew from 800sq m to 2500sq m.

In an emailed response, a Coles spokesman said there had been preliminary discussions about the site, but would not comment further on any proposals or timeframes.

Buffalo blues
Local News 26 Jul 11 @ 01:00pm by Staff Writer

THE Buffalo Restaurant is in desperate need of a lifeline from Holdfast Bay Council, its owners say.
Restaurant owners Nancy Marquis and Ralph Artho told the Guardian Messenger they would be forced to close the 30-year-old restaurant on the Patawalonga shore if the council did not provide rent relief.

They have spent more than $380,000 on repairs since they bought the restaurant five years ago. And the couple says they have been forced to sell a house and borrow more than half a million dollars to keep the business afloat.

The Hallett Cove couple owns the Buffalo but pays the council $62,000 rent annually, which has risen from $38,000 in 2006, for the restaurant’s site and carpark.
“It’s going to have to close we can’t keep it going,” Mrs Marquis said. The business has been forced to cut its staff from 19 to three over the past few years. Mr Artho and Mrs Marquis asked the council last month to lower the rent to ease their financial woes, but their plea was rejected.

Mrs Marquis, 53, told the Guardian Messenger the carpark was used by people not dining at the restaurant, which robbed her diners of spaces and her of turnover.
“It’s people who use the playground and it’s people who work (at Glenelg) and park there all day,” she said.

Mrs Marquis said staff had been abused for confronting people parking in the car park.
“We’ve had to chase people out, we’ve been spat at,” she said.

“One of our chefs got attacked because he said ‘look you can’t park here’ and a guy got out and verbally assaulted him.”
She had approached the council several times with a proposal to introduce paid parking or time restrictions, but the council would not agree to a deal.

Mrs Marquis said if the council did not lower the rent and restrict parking the restaurant would close even though the couple would still have to pay the outstanding rent.

The restaurant has been on the market since early 2009.
“No-one wants to buy it and you can’t blame them because as soon as they see the rent for the council they say no way,” Mrs Marquis said.
“I fell in love with this place the first time we ate here 11 years ago.”

Holdfast Bay chief executive Justin Lynch said the council would be happy to negotiate a deal with Mrs Marquis and Mr Artho.

“We think it’s iconic for the area and we’d like to see it protected,” he said.
“We’re happy to negotiate something with them.