Adelaide’s Newmarket Hotel Towers Wins Approval

New plans to build twin towers around Newmarket Hotel, at the edge of the Adelaide CBD, will move ahead after getting the green light from the state commission assessment panel.

The One North Terrace plans feature two, 32-storey towers next to the state heritage-listed building that is opposite the Royal Adelaide Hospital.

The plan includes 191 residential apartments and 161 serviced apartments above five levels of office and retail tenancies within the 10-storey podium.

The 2646sq m site has been one of contention for developers—a 2016 proposal was quashed by the Supreme Court of SA in 2020.

The court cited setback requirements as the main issue for the 23-storey, twin-tower development.

One North Terrace (Aust) Pty Ltd, registered to the same address as accounting firm Lee Green and who were also in attendance at the planning meeting, was behind the latest plans.

It included the demolition of the state heritage-listed stables and rehabilitation of the Newmarket Hotel.

The hotel, built in 1883, would be incorporated into the twin-tower design by Cox Architecture at a total development cost of $72 million.

“The design proposed as part of this application will result in significant improvements for the public realm by renovating the external fabric of the Newmarket Hotel,” the application stated.

“The site has most recently been used as a hotel and nightclub but has been vacant for several years.”

Fifteen per cent of the residential apartments in the complex would be dedicated to affordable housing.

Unit prices in Adelaide have remained steady during the pandemic, increasing 2.3 per cent in the past year, however, house prices went up 16.3 per cent.

Domain chief of research Nicola Powell said the gap may start to narrow as affordability impacts purchases and investor return.

“Buyer demand has been so strong during the past three months it has resulted in the highest volume of houses and units to be sold ever for Adelaide, causing an unusually high period of growth,” Powell said.