Grange, Costa Spearhead SA Second City

A joint-venture has revealed plans for almost 10,000-home lots as part of the largest single residential development in South Australia’s history.

Shirley Costa’s family office, Costa Property Group, has joined Grange Development to acquire 909ha of an 1860ha state-significant precinct at Gifford Hill, Murray Bridge, 78km east-southeast of Adelaide.

The land holding was acquired in multiple transactions by the joint venture and amalgamated during the past 18 months.

The holding is expected to yield 9969 lots and represents 81.4 per cent of the developable land in the precinct. 

Lauded as a second city for SA, the Gifford Hill precinct will deliver 17,100 homes, including detached housing and medium density, as well as a new town centre, mixed-use high street and six neighbourhood activity centres.

The $7.5-billion development is expected to be home to more than 44,000 people on completion.

Seven schools, 285ha of conservation space and 119ha of active open space—more than 20 per cent of the precinct—are also part of the broader development.

▲ A render of the Gifford Hill precinct High Street.

Centred around the new $110-million Murray Bridge Racing Club in Gifford Hill, the precinct builds on the Murray Bridge Structure Plan, released this month.  

The Gifford Hill project will become South Australia’s largest residential growth area since the 1950s and will be slightly larger but lower in density than the 1340ha Walker Corp’s Riverlea at Buckland Park.

Rental prices in Murray Bridge have risen 68.6 per cent during the past five years, underpinned by a severe undersupply of housing, which has been further exacerbated by surging demand in the wake of population and employment growth, with 10.3 per cent of that growth recorded in the past year, according to Domain’s June 2024 Rental Report. 

Grange Development founder James Dibble said the project was the most significant residential development in history for South Australia and Adelaide.

He said Gifford Hill “will be future-proofed in its urban design, technology, built form and materiality to deploy forward-focused principles”.

▲ A render of the precinct town centre: The Gifford Hill project will become South Australia’s largest residential growth area since the 1950s.