Highrise Approvals Add 1000-Plus PBSA Beds in Adelaide

The number of student beds in Adelaide will swell by more than 1000 after two separate highrise proposals were greenlit.

Approved by the State Commission Assessment Panel were TAL GP Projects’ 34-storey tower and a 35-storey tower put forward by a development entity.

Both were granted consent, subject to conditions, by the commission at its meeting on August 27.

Adelaide continues to cement its reputation as the PBSA capital of Australia thanks in part to favourable tax incentives that make it the cheapest city in the country to build student accommodation.

The projects follow the approval of a 33-storey student tower behind Adelaide’s oldest church, the Holy Trinity Church, at North Terrace in July.

Melbourne-based TAL GP Projects had proposed its tower for above the heritage Duke of York Hotel on a 745sq m site at 82-86 Currie Street.

The Telha Clarke-designed scheme included the partial demolition of the 1883-built hotel, which will become a two-storey podium with cafe, communal areas and lobby.

▲ A rendering of the new student tower and refurbishment of the Duke of York Hotel in Adelaide.

There will also be internal and external communal space on the top floor including cooking areas.

Originally the developer’s plans were for a 89m tower but it was upgraded to almost 110m after talks with the state’s design review panel, pushing the accommodation from 408 to 570 beds.

Meanwhile, on the other side of Rundle Mall, an entity led by Damien Ellis, Jonathan Whittle and Peter Bergin has won approval for another student tower at 56-62 Pulteney Street.

▲ A rendering of the PBSA tower approved for next to Hindmarsh Square.

Existing low-rise buildings on the 472sq m project site, next door to the Pullman Adelaide hotel, will be demolished to make way for the tower.

Designed by Intro Architecture, the scheme has ground-floor commercial space and lobby access below the 488-bed highrise.

There will be 405 rooms in the building plus communal areas in the lower levels and a kitchen, lounge, dining area and terrace on the top floor. 

Whittle, a long-time player in the sector and founder of PBSA developer Campus Estates in 2015, spoke to The Urban Developer in May about the plans.