Industrial Land For Sale Near SA Defence, Transport Hubs
Bucking the trend of national industrial stagnation, large industrial blocks close to interstate transport routes and major defence industry facilities have hit the market in Adelaide’s north.
State government land developer Renewal SA is releasing three industrial blocks that together comprise more than 15ha at the industrial suburb of Edinburgh North.
Zoned for strategic employment, the allotments at 202, 203 and 204 Bellchambers Road are each more than 5ha in size and being offered individually or as one sale.
The land provides B-double access to Adelaide’s upgraded freeway system through the northern expressway and northern connector.
Renewal SA development director for industrial and defence Tim Tape said the blocks were an important industrial release.
“Of the significant capital expenditure delivered by Renewal SA last financial year, employment land for industry and defence made up around half of that,” he said.
Tape said the three allotments would be suitable for logistics, warehousing, manufacturing and commercial activities.
The blocks are beside 201 Bellchambers Road, a 5.5ha parcel approved for development of 29 individual allotments ranging from 3200 to 10,700 square metres.
The area is close to the Edinburgh defence precinct, a national research and manufacturing hub that houses the Royal Australian Air Force Base Edinburgh, multinational defence companies and the Adelaide operations of the federal defence science and technology agency.
The blocks are 10km from logistics company SCT’s intermodal freight terminal in Penfield, providing connections to the main interstate rail line.
Also at Penfield, Renewal SA has now completed a $200-million deep maintenance and modification facility for the P8A Poseidon surveillance aircraft and RAAF E-7A Wedgetail airborne warning and control aircraft.
Tape said the allotments had access to established utility infrastructure within the surrounding road corridor, including mains water, sewer and electricity services.
Expressions of interest for 202-204 Bellchambers Road will close at 4pm Adelaide time on Tuesday, May 5.
Adelaide bucks price stagnation
Renewal SA’s land release comes as new Cushman & Wakefield figures show that prime rents for industrial property remained largely flat across Australia in the first quarter of 2026 except in Adelaide where prime rents grew 1.7 per cent.
Compared to Adelaide’s result, prime rent rises in other capitals were modest, with Melbourne recording 0.1 per cent, Sydney 0.2 per cent, Brisbane 0.9 per cent and Perth remaining dead flat at 0.0 per cent.
Cushman & Wakefield’s Australian head of logistics and industrial research Luke Crawford said price growth had been strongest in outer Adelaide, with the outer north and outer south submarkets both jumping by more than 9.0 per cent in Q1 2026.
Despite Adelaide’s rise in rents, Crawford said the vacancy rate for established industrial properties across the SA capital rose by 2.8 per cent cent over the quarter.
“The addition of secondary-grade backfill leasing options in the inner north drove an increase in Adelaide’s vacancy rate in Q1 2026 to 2.8 per cent, up from 2.3 per cent in the previous quarter,” he said.
“Leasing availability remains heavily skewed toward secondary grade options, which account for almost 60 per cent of vacant floorspace.
“In contrast, prime grade leasing options are concentrated in a limited number of larger facilities, including Leyton Funds at 1772 Main North Road [at] Salisbury Plain (19,922sq m) and Realside Ovest at Ovest Business Park [at] Salisbury South (10,500sq m).”
Crawford said that additions to supply in Quarter 1 totalled almost 20,000sq m, underpinned by Charter Hall’s Edinburgh Logistics Park in Adelaide’s outer north and Harmony’s Gillman Industrial Estate in the inner north.
“For the balance of the year, there is just over 110,000sq m in the pipeline, which includes 20,910sq m within Centuria’s development at Direk and DHL’s 20,000sq m facility at Edinburgh Park, both of which are in the outer north submarket,” he said.
“A handful of developers remain active in bringing speculative developments to market, capitalising on the undersupply of prime leasing options.”
He said that in Quarter 1 speculative projects amounted to about 85,000 square metres.
“Active industrial land supply across Adelaide is limited, with less than 2.5 years of supply remaining based on recent take-up trends,” he said.
“While there is land supply in the longer-term pipeline, most of this is not serviced, or the current ownership structure is prohibitive for development.
“This environment has placed upward pressure on land values across all size brackets, supported by solid owner-occupier demand.”
