This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
ADELAIDE city fringe locale Bowden will have its skyline reshaped by an expanded multi-million dollar residential building that will deliver 80 affordable rental apartments.
Designs have been unveiled for the 12-storey building on Third Street, opposite Plant 3 and 4 and next to US development and real estate management firm Sentinel’s Kinleaf build-to-rent project.
It will comprise 84 apartments, four of which will be Torrens-titled warehouse lofts facing Second Street, and which will be offered for sale. The project will be delivered by Renewal SA and operated long term by a Community Housing Provider (CHP), which will manage tenants of the studio, one-and-two-bedroom apartments. Specialist disability accommodation will also form part of the offering.
The Third Street project was first announced in February last year as a 60-apartment affordable housing project within the state government’s A Better Housing Future initiatives. Detailed design has unlocked a further 24 apartments.
Adelaide’s residential vacancy rate is at a remarkably sharp 0.3%, according to Domain.
The state government said it would actively pursue funding support for the Third Street project via a first-round submission to the federal government’s $10 billion Housing Australia Future Fund facility, in partnership with the community housing sector to underpin ongoing operations as an affordable rental project.
Renewal SA has commenced a second stage tender to shortlisted builders to deliver the project in conjunction with ARM. The selection of a CHP partner is expected to begin this month following a stage one shortlisting process.
Rents will be set closer to project completion. First residents will be scheduled to move in at the start of 2026.
Renewal SA’s 16-hectare Bowden precinct is the state government’s first higher-density urban infill revitalisation project and is earmarked to be home to 3,000 new residents over the coming years. It said the precinct “has undergone a surge in popularity in recent years particularly at night and on weekends”.
Renewal SA chief executive Chris Menz said the Third Street development was a giant win for Bowden.
“Bowden demands clever design and construction, and this building will become a positive legacy for the precinct,” he said.
“It takes active measures to help ease the state’s current housing situation via the delivery of 80 affordable rental apartments in a market that is becoming more challenging for everyday working South Australians; it provides multiple opportunities to add to Bowden’s curation of retail spaces; and it provides provision for a permanent public car parking solution for the Bowden community.”
A public multideck car park will be constructed on the lower levels of the building, catering for around 221 cars. This includes resident parking, should they wish to couple a car park with their apartment rental, plus public car parks to service the Bowden precinct.
Sections of the walls of the car park and open roof deck will “form a curated gallery of art as an ode to Bowden’s mural culture”, the government said, and the open-aired upper level has the capacity to serve a dual function as a public activation space.
Next door, Adelaide is poised to have its first institutional build-to-rent project after Sentinel agreed to take on 4,000 sqm of land within the precinct last year. Sentinel’s Australian arm plans to deliver, own and manage approximately 250 rental apartments at Lots 49 and 50.
