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UniSA's west end land grab

Local News23 Jun 11 @ 06:00am by Alice Higgins



UniSA continues to buy up land in Adelaide's west end, securing the former Night Train site in Light Square.


UniSA is continuing its buy up of lucrative west end land, securing the former Night Train site on Light Square to cater for its growing student base.

The uni will use its latest buy, worth $3 million, to help provide for an influx of 5500 students to its City West campus when the Magill campus closes in about five years.

But the uni is unlikely to take control of the site until 2023, if two existing tenants renew their current leases.

The former Night Train joins the uni’s growing property portfolio which includes Hindley St establishments Cargo Club and Vodka Bar, and the third Hindley St site where it will build a $95 million learning centre.

UniSA Chief Operating Officer Paul Beard said the former Night Train property would likely be refurbished for student use or offices.

“It’s a prime site with good frontage onto Light Square and once it became available, we thought we should take the opportunity because you don’t know if these things will become available again,” Mr Beard said.

He said the uni would look into buying more West End property, especially sites adjacent to City West.

“It’s no secret we’re looking to grow in the West End,” he said.

“We don’t have that many sites on campus to develop so in time we’ll be looking to buy more.”

Work will start in September to turn the Cargo Club into a site office for the learning centre while the Vodka Bar will remain unchanged.

Adelaide West End Association president Andrew Wallace said the properties should be developed to include “commercial enterprises” on the ground floor such as cafes and shops.

“They (UniSA) need to take into account the West’s needs to maintain its vibrancy to be attractive to students,” Mr Wallace said.

“We need to start having opportunities for small businesses to support the population including everything from a post office and a bank to eating spaces and retail uses.

“It’s about the uni becoming a part of the city instead of making the uni a walled city.” Property Council of SA executive director Nathan Paine said the uni’s latest buy was a big plus for the West End.

“If you look at the past projects UniSA has delivered, such as the Hawke Building and Kaurna Building, they’ve added positively to the city,” Mr Paine said.

“A single entity consolidating a number of sites as part of a broader plan will lead to a more cohesive revitalisation of the West End

Our new West End

Local News 8 Sep 11 @ 07:30am by Tim Williams









An artist's impression of redevelopments of Uni SA's City West campus.


UNISA’S city campuses will be transformed with a $300 million redevelopment.

The City Messenger can reveal the university’s plans for its City West campus include a new $145 million building on the Philip St carpark site, south of Hindley St, with lecture theatres, tutorial rooms and academic offices.

The new building will help accommodate the 5500 students transferring from the Magill campus when it closes as soon as 2016.

It will face the $95 million learning centre, to include a library, teaching space, offices, and a cafe, for which site works have already begun.

Construction of the two u-shaped buildings will create a plaza between them opening on to Hindley St.

Vice chancellor Professor Peter Hoj said the aim was to integrate the campuses with the city around them.

“As a uni we want to try and blur those boundaries between `here’s the uni’ and `here’s the city’,” he said.

“We would like those boundaries to be blurry so the city is part of us and we’re part of the city.”

UniSA is also preparing a $70 million masterplan for overhauling existing buildings and landscaping, possibly including converting the North Tce frontage of the City West campus into shopfronts and outdoor dining areas.

The plan includes turning George St, between North Tce and Hindley St, into a pedestrian-only oasis with trees, gardens and seating.

The green corridor will feed directly into the new plaza on the other side of Hindley St. At City East, the corner of North Tce and Frome Rd will be opened up with a new cafe and fencing removed.

The existing upper level cafeteria will be demolished to make way for a plaza area, with the new cafe beneath facing Frome Rd.

Landscaping work will be done at both campuses, with bitumen areas ripped up and replaced with paving, trees and gardens.

Prof Hoj said friendlier, more vibrant campuses were in the university’s economic interest as they would help to attract more students.

The learning centre is due to open in 2014.

The $145 million building could be ready within five years, but Prof Hoj said it might be delayed if the strong Australian dollar continued to impact on international student numbers.