Retirement & Aged CareRenee McKeownTue 11 Mar 25

Adaptive Reuse at Heart of Adelaide Seniors Precinct

The key feature was the redevelopment of the Julia Farr Centre, a wide 10-storey hospital facility built in 1977 which closed in 2020.

Plans that combine new builds and adaptive reuse have been filed for a 2.86ha retirement precinct in Adelaide’s inner south.

Living Choice and Opal HealthCare are behind the scheme for the site at Fullerton.

The aged-care developer and provider respectively picked up the final piece of the property for $42 million in January, 2024, and have plans before PlanSA.

A key feature is the redevelopment of the Julia Farr Centre, a 10-storey hospital facility built in 1977 and closed in 2020.

Also included are plans for a five-storey retirement facility, 16 two-storey townhouses and a swimming pool for the site at 103 and 123 Fisher Street.

The Julia Farr Centre, also known as the Highgate Building, would comprise 159 supported beds from the ground floor to level four and be operated by Opal Healthcare.

The levels above would be converted into 64 apartments by Living Choice Australia for retirement living.

the outside of a 1970s care facility in adelaide with brown brick and white balustrades on green lawns.

▲ The Julia Farr Centre was given a public farewell in March 2024 and proceeds of its sale went to a perpetual trust to support South Australians with a disability.

Also planned are a lounge area, cafe, function room, games area, gym and pool on the ground floor, and a pickleball court and sunroom on level three.

The developer plans to vest 3000sq m of land and new public road to the City of Unley council in a separate application while the site’s chapel, round house and Gosse building would be demolished.

The plans for the site are part of a larger vision by Living Choice business partners Ian Tregoning and Graham Hobbs, who bought the western part of the block in 2011.

four images depicting modern townhouses and a retirement facility in adelaide.

▲ Renderings of townhouses and a five-level retirement facility proposed for the Fisher Street, Fullarton site.

Last month the privately owned group won approval for a masterplanned community on a 3833sq m site in Adelaide’s west, in the City of Charles Sturt.

That scheme includes 110 independent living apartments within an eight-storey building as well as a grand foyer, magnesium pool, cinema, sky bar and 120-seat auditorium.

Construction on the development, at the corner of Norman Road and Turner Drive, West Lakes, is scheduled to start in 2026.