Former bomber kicks major goal

FORMER Essendon AFL footballer, Andrew Welsh, has taken on one of South Australia’s fastest growing master planned community, Arcadian Property’s Springwood.

Located around 40km north of Adelaide, the 2,000 lot strong Gawler development, sits on a 220-hectare site and is set to become the home of 6,000 residents upon its completion.

The transaction marks the footballer’s development company Wel.Co’s first move into the state.

“We’re thrilled to welcome Springwood to our expanding portfolio of master planned residential communities across Australia,” said Andrew Welsh, and founder and managing director of Wel.Co.

Welsh pointed to the South Australian northern region’s strong levels of investment and population growth, in addition to the quality of the offering, as the key motivators for the strategic transaction.

“Off the back of significant investment and jobs growth in sectors like health, defence and technology in Adelaide’s north, there is now an increasing demand for high-quality homes and amenities,” added Welsh.

The purchase represents Wel.Co’s tenth residential/commercial project that is currently underway across the country.

“Springwood is exactly the type of community we’re passionate about cultivating at Wel.Co — it’s been carefully planned, it’s liveable and it’s well-connected, and clearly setting the benchmark for other developments in Adelaide’s north.”

Springwood is anticipated to bring hundreds of jobs to the local community, which will be uninterrupted by new ownership.

“Springwood is a significant economic investment for the Gawler region and the state, and we’re really looking forward to applying our expertise to breathe new life into Springwood, and continue its development at an accelerated rate over the coming years,” said Welsh.

The neighbouring Gawler East was recently identified by REISA as seeing one of the highest levels of growth for the state over the past year, with a sales increase of 43.38%.

The master planned community will benefit from recent announcements in the area, such as delivery of infrastructure development in the Gawler East Link Road and the $20 million Springwood Place retail precinct, set for a late 2022 completion.