The site at 88 O’Connell Street has remained vacant for almost 29 years since the closure of the Le Cornu furniture store in 1989.
A number of applications were made and approved over the years to redevelop the site. The most recent one in 2015 by the Makris Group, sought to construct a shopping and residential apartment complex. None of the plans or proposals over this time have come to fruition.
The City of Adelaide made the decision to purchase the site in late 2017 with the aim to ensure a timely, suitable development that delivers public value. This represents a significant step towards the activation and redevelopment of Eighty Eight O’Connell, enabling it to make its contribution to the future of North Adelaide.
Draft Guiding Principles were developed based on early engagement undertaken by Council in May 2018. A report summarising the feedback received in stage one is available by clicking here.
Further engagement was undertaken with the community to gather feedback on the Draft Guiding Principles for the future development of the site. You can view the report which summarises this engagement process and the feedback gathered in stage two by clicking here.
At a Council Meeting on 14th August 2018, Council reviewed the report and endorsed the Guiding Principles as per the wording from the draft principles. You can review the final Guiding Principles by clicking here.
These principles were used as the basis for an Expression of Interest (EOI) process to engage with developers to assist in bringing the vision of the community and Council to life. The EOI was launched to the property industry on 10 September 2018 and can be viewed here.
The EOI process attracted significant interest from local, interstate and international developers and Council was very pleased with the submissions received in response to the guiding principles. Council then decided to invite a short list of proponents from the EOI to submit their detailed proposals for developing the site. As part of Stage 2 of this process, selected proponents were asked to submit detailed financial, commercial and development information.
On 19 November 2019, the City of Adelaide selected a preferred proponent with whom to progress negotiations with on the redevelopment of the site.
On 16 December 2020, the City of Adelaide announced the selection of Commercial & General Pty Ltd to develop and revitalise the site, entering into a commercial arrangement with Commercial & General and endorsing a design concept in their capacity as the owner of the land.
Consultation has concluded
