Eighty Eight O'Connell

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Consultation has concluded



After 30 years of inactivity, the City of Adelaide purchased 88 O’Connell Street North Adelaide to accelerate a development outcome which would contribute to the revitalisation of North Adelaide.

Following an open Expression of Interest process which commenced in late 2018, the City of Adelaide is pleased to announce that it has selected Commercial & General to deliver an exciting mix of residential, retail and commercial uses, new public open spaces with connections through the site, all supported by publicly accessible car parking. Commercial & General are a proudly South Australian development and construction company based in Adelaide and were selected on their capacity and capability to deliver a project of this complexity.

The $250M redevelopment of the site will be the catalyst required to assist in the revitalisation of the O’Connell Street precinct and once complete will complement and expand on the existing offerings along O’Connell Street.


Community Information Sessions - February 2021

In February 2021, Council held Information Sessions in collaboration with the selected developer, Commercial & General to provide the community with the opportunity to hear more about the development.

Following these sessions, we updated the project’s current Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ’s), which can be read by clicking here.

Please click here to read the latest updates on the City of Adelaide website.


If you would like to be contacted by Commercial & General as the development progresses, please visit the project’s website to register your interest:

88 O’Connell Street, North Adelaide by Commercial & General



Historical Project Information

Final Guiding PrinciplesStage 2 Engagement ReportStage 1 Engagement ReportFrequently Asked QuestionsContact Staff





After 30 years of inactivity, the City of Adelaide purchased 88 O’Connell Street North Adelaide to accelerate a development outcome which would contribute to the revitalisation of North Adelaide.

Following an open Expression of Interest process which commenced in late 2018, the City of Adelaide is pleased to announce that it has selected Commercial & General to deliver an exciting mix of residential, retail and commercial uses, new public open spaces with connections through the site, all supported by publicly accessible car parking. Commercial & General are a proudly South Australian development and construction company based in Adelaide and were selected on their capacity and capability to deliver a project of this complexity.

The $250M redevelopment of the site will be the catalyst required to assist in the revitalisation of the O’Connell Street precinct and once complete will complement and expand on the existing offerings along O’Connell Street.


Community Information Sessions - February 2021

In February 2021, Council held Information Sessions in collaboration with the selected developer, Commercial & General to provide the community with the opportunity to hear more about the development.

Following these sessions, we updated the project’s current Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ’s), which can be read by clicking here.

Please click here to read the latest updates on the City of Adelaide website.


If you would like to be contacted by Commercial & General as the development progresses, please visit the project’s website to register your interest:

88 O’Connell Street, North Adelaide by Commercial & General



Historical Project Information

Final Guiding PrinciplesStage 2 Engagement ReportStage 1 Engagement ReportFrequently Asked QuestionsContact Staff



Consultation has concluded
  • Background - Long Term Development Process

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    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.


  • 2019 Expressions of Interest Activation Program

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    88 O’Connell Street, North Adelaide was purchased in early 2018 by the City of Adelaide. The site presents an opportunity to facilitate a strategic development in a timely way that takes into account the needs of the community and contributes to the O’Connell Street precinct.

    The City of Adelaide is seeking Expressions of Interests (EOI’s) from suitable parties that can demonstrate an ability to create an activation program or an experiential offering at 88 O’Connell Street for a period of up to two (2) years. The offering/program should seek to bring people together, to facilitate community connections, economic vitality and public/community involvement.


    Click here to view the image highlighting the proposed leasehold area.

    Click here to view the document Expression of Interest - Activating Eighty-Eight O'Connell.

  • Background - 2018 Short Term Activation

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    In May 2018, the City of Adelaide undertook an engagement process to gather early input from the community about their aspirations for the short-term activation and long-term development of Eighty-Eight O’Connell.

    The engagement comprised a series of community sessions, and an online survey. The comments received indicated a strong desire to see the site activated in the short term, with the most frequently identified types of use being:

    • Events that enable the community to meet, gather and be active
    • Farmers’, arts and craft and night markets
    • Community fetes/fairs
    • Open air entertainment including art, music, theatre and outdoor movie events
    • Mobile food vendor events
    • Family and children’s events or activities.

    Since April 2018, Council has delivered a successful activation program. The original plan focussed on quick, flexible improvements which invited people to the space to support the businesses within the area and included an allowance for bi-monthly low scale/budget activation and events. The program as delivered has exceeded this plan providing an interest across most months of the year. The activation program aimed to strengthen civic engagement and the attachment people feel to the site.