[COM] The Rowlands Apartments | 55m | 16lvls | Residential

[Ben]

Things are definitely picking up again this one is just behind Her Majesty's Theatre on grote Street:

Type: Development Application Received
Application Number: DA/540/2010
Lodgement Date: 19/07/2010
Location: 12-14 Rowlands Place, ADELAIDE SA 5000
Description: Demolish existing buildings and construct 13 level residential building with basement and ground floor car parking - 60 student apartments and 29 residential apartments.

[Will]

Another one!

It's the third one this week!

[Mants]

any development that brings people into the city, especially the market precinct, gets my vote. hopefully we see more of this kind of development in the same area, fuelling a revitalisation of grote and franklin streets.

[ghs]

How do you guys receive these applications........ is there a website ?

[Ben]

How do you guys receive these applications........ is there a website ?

Yes there is a development application register on the ACC website.

www.adelaidecitycouncil.com

and then developments.

[skyliner]

Very encouraging - there seems to be a return to the speed 2008 - 9.

BTW - thanks for the ACC site dev. info Ben.

ADELAIDE - TOWARDS A GREATER CITY SKYLINE

[AtD]

A bit of an odd location and quite a small site. Not impressed with ground floor parking but at its proposed location, who cares?

Good news either way.

[monotonehell]

A bit of an odd location and quite a small site. Not impressed with ground floor parking but at its proposed location, who cares? Good news either way.

I agree with your statement and then I agree with you disagreeing with your statement. Rowlands Pl is a tiny dead end alleyway. Having any ground level retail makes no sense.

[Vee]

any development that brings people into the city, especially the market precinct, gets my vote. hopefully we see more of this kind of development in the same area, fuelling a revitalisation of grote and franklin streets.

Yes! I had not heard of Rowlands Place before this post but agree the market precinct is a fabulous location for residential developments.
We really need to increase residential densities (and the mix, including affordable apartments) in the city. Grote and Franklin Sts and surrounds have such a fabulous location and are crying out for revitalisation (many decaying/under-utilised buildings and empty blocks).

Each new multi-level residential development in this precinct adds more pedestrian traffic, day and evening, more vibrancy, greater demand for (and rejuventaion of) local businesses, an impetus for further re-development and increased use of public transport (despite the number of carparks). Improved streetscapes and amenities accompany such revitalisation and add to the appeal of the city as a great place to to live, work, visit and play.

I'm particularly interested in the prospect of having a larger night-time population in the city to better balance the exodus of daytime workers, and the increased walkability and sense of safety and security.

Is the nearby and magnificent Post Office building still destined to be re-purposed as a boutique hotel?

[ghs]

How do you guys receive these applications........ is there a website ?

Yes there is a development application register on the ACC website.

http://www.adelaidecitycouncil.com

and then developments.

I looked under developments and got lost. Can you be a bit more specific ?

[Prince George]

A bit of an odd location and quite a small site. Not impressed with ground floor parking but at its proposed location, who cares? Good news either way.

I agree with your statement and then I agree with you disagreeing with your statement. Rowlands Pl is a tiny dead end alleyway. Having any ground level retail makes no sense.

Not so fast there - at the end of Rowland is a tantalising little accessway that goes all the way through to Franklin Street. It ends up facing Just Kidding, which is the site of another development proposal (mixed residential/offices, right?). And it also takes a right turn across the back of Her Majesty's Theatre and almost goes all the way through to Pitt Street - there's just one little building in the way, I can't make out what it actually is. I realise that this spot has some serious challenges - the back end of the bus station is ghastly, for example - but we keep talking about "activating our alleys". Are you sure you want to wash our hands of an alley that faces onto the markets?

[Ben]

How do you guys receive these applications........ is there a website ?

Yes there is a development application register on the ACC website.

http://www.adelaidecitycouncil.com

and then developments.

I looked under developments and got lost. Can you be a bit more specific ?

No probs, try:

http://www.adelaidecitycouncil.com

- Planning and Building Developments

- Tracking your development Application

- Launch Development Application tracking

From here you can search for any application lodged since 2005.

[monotonehell]

Not so fast there - at the end of Rowland is a tantalising little accessway that goes all the way through to Franklin Street. It ends up facing Just Kidding, which is the site of another development proposal (mixed residential/offices, right?). And it also takes a right turn across the back of Her Majesty's Theatre and almost goes all the way through to Pitt Street - there's just one little building in the way, I can't make out what it actually is. I realise that this spot has some serious challenges - the back end of the bus station is ghastly, for example - but we keep talking about "activating our alleys". Are you sure you want to wash our hands of an alley that faces onto the markets?

In this case, yes.
IIRC: The passage to Franklin street is private gated driveway of the multistorey carpark there, and the passage that "almost" makes it to Pitt Street is Her Majesty's back yard/car park (again private and gated). I don't know what function the little building has, I always thought it was a backstage area for the theatre.
The potential for through foot traffic is next to zero here. It would need to be a very special destination tenant who would benefit from a position here.

[Prince George]

The accessway may be private property, but it crucially doesn't actually have anything on it right now. There is an opportunity there to have a public access through there, by coming to terms with the owners. In a similar context, you might remember that there was a discussion about Synagogue Place and the Masonic Temple. And adjacent to that carpark on Flinders St, there's been a development that's stalled for 18 months now - maybe there's still an opportunity to negotiate with them too?

Cities tend to suffer the "death of a thousand cuts" - it's pretty rare that there's just one big decision that screws a place up, success and failure are usually the result of many thousands of good or bad choices. There are too many similar places that have been allowed to go to waste - considering where it is, Bent St is a travesty; on York St we repeated the dose; at the Southern edge of the city, Symonds Place, Howard Florey St and Catharine Helen Spence St between Halifax and Gilles irk me no end too (I wouldn't be surprised if people there prefer walking down the much more attractive Hallett St). I bet in each case there was a series of times when people said "this isn't the kind of place we need to bother about the street" - and if they did, it became something of a self-fulfilling prophecy. We won't be likely to have a chance to fix those streets, we're stuck with them for a generation. So it distresses me to see us walking away from any of the streets that we could see a change on.

[Omicron]

I do find it odd how little negotiation seems to go on - 'hey guys, we're putting a building full of people right here, so if you make this bit open to pedestrians you can make this part of your building into some retail tenancies and charge more rent than you do now, and then perhaps make the whole area more desirable to future development which in turn raises the value of all our properties' and so on. Making money isn't just a completely inward-looking venture.

A good chance for the ACC to demonstrate proactiveness in these matters, too, by getting on the front foot and expressing a willingness to accommodate changes in zoning and whatnot to facilitate discussions - hell, even outright suggestions as to what they'd like to see for the area.