New apartments, hotels and student towers are rising across the CBD. Here’s what’s happening – and where.
A block gets wrapped in hoardings. A crane goes up. Then you stop noticing it – until one day there’s suddenly a 30-storey building where a car park used to be.
If you’ve walked through the CBD lately, you’ve probably passed at least one of these sites and wondered what’s actually happening there.
Here’s what’s taking shape – and how it’s set to reshape the city.
The market district is about to change
If you’ve been anywhere near the Adelaide Central Market lately, you can’t miss the construction – but what’s actually going up there?
When the $500 million Market Square redevelopment around Gouger and Grote streets is completed later this year, it’ll change how this part of the city looks and works.
At its centre is a major mixed-use precinct combining retail, offices, a hotel, new apartments and public space, all built around an expanded version of the Central Market itself.
The office tower is already almost finished, while the residential and hotel tower on Grote Street is rising towards its final height of around 40 storeys. And for anyone who remembers what the market frontage used to look like: the classic red brick arches are coming back.
It’s not just one building. Alongside shops and hospitality, there’ll be childcare, workplaces and open public areas designed to keep the precinct busy well beyond market hours.
More homes in the city
From high-end apartments to more affordable options, a range of new housing is taking shape across the CBD – including developments within reach for buyers on a budget.
Just across the road from the Central Market, the $200 million Victoria Tower on Grote Street is now complete – a 37-storey tower with close to 300 apartments, including penthouses, plus space for offices and shops.
Meanwhile, on Franklin Street, the $200 million Franklin Tower is under construction, adding more housing to the CBD. The 23-storey apartment building, inspired by Japandi design, will form part of a two-tower project on the site of a former pub.
In the east end, the City East development spans land between Pirie and Flinders streets. It’s set to deliver more than 700 homes across four towers, alongside a hotel and new retail spaces. At up to 39 storeys, it’s one of the largest residential projects currently planned for the city.
Backed by a partnership between the state government, the City of Adelaide and community housing providers, the $900 million project includes around 200 homes in the affordable housing bracket – opening up CBD living to a wider range of South Australians.
Student living is scaling up
North Terrace is another part of the CBD seeing major change right now.
And it’s not just one project – it’s a cluster of student accommodation builds that are stacking up along one of the city’s main boulevards.
The biggest of these is 88 North Terrace, a 33-storey, $400 million development. Rising behind Trinity Church – Adelaide’s oldest church at 88 North Terrace – where a car park used to be, it will house more than 1000 students when it’s finished. It’s a significant jump in scale for Adelaide, where purpose-built student accommodation has traditionally been much lower-rise.
Not far away, another major student accommodation project, Journal Student Living, is planned for the corner of North Terrace and Frome Street, just 40m from the front door of the new Adelaide University campus.
The $400 million development will include hundreds of student rooms alongside shared facilities like study spaces, a gym and communal areas, plus ground-floor retail and shops opening onto a new public plaza. Expected to start construction this year, it’s set to become one of the largest student housing complexes in Adelaide.
And new student accommodation isn’t only springing up along North Terrace. Over in the city’s west, the Franklin Tower project will also include a student accommodation tower with more than 500 rooms, plus ground-floor shops and shared spaces like kitchens, lounges and study areas.
Meanwhile, the Duke of York Hotel on Currie Street is set for a roughly $100 million revamp that will retain and restore the heritage-listed 19th-century pub building as a café, while adding a 33-storey, 109m student tower above it, with about 570 beds and shared spaces including kitchens, games and media rooms, a gym and a rooftop terrace.
Stylish staycations on the way
If you’re planning a city staycation or visiting from regional SA, there are a few new options on the way.
At 100 North Terrace, the $120 million Little National Hotel is currently under construction, with a planned opening before the end of the year. It will include around 230 rooms, plus penthouse suites, a 250sqm gym, guest-only lounge spaces and a two-storey rooftop bar with 360-degree views across the city, hills and coastline.
And on King William Street, the old Adelaide Metro building is getting a $10 million-plus glow-up, with vacant office space being turned into a 12-storey boutique hotel. Once finished, there’ll be 129 hotel rooms spread across most floors, plus a basement restaurant and ground-level shops bringing life back to the corner of King William and Currie streets.
A new landmark for the riverbank
At the heart of the city’s Riverbank Entertainment precinct, Adelaide’s Festival Plaza is nearing the end of its major upgrade, backed by more than $1 billion in public and private investment, including $213 million from the SA government.
Construction has now started on the final stage of the redevelopment, Festival Plaza Tower 2 – an $800 million project set to become Adelaide’s tallest building.
Alongside office space for around 5000 workers, the tower will include two whole floors of restaurants, cafes and bars, plus a rooftop bar and restaurant overlooking Adelaide Oval and the hills – adding new places to eat, drink and spend time in the city after work.
Stay up-to-date on major builds happening across Adelaide and SA here.
