Briefcase: Business snippets from around SA
In this week’s briefcase, a big four consulting firm announces their move into a major CBD tower project, a new agreement is reached for student accommodation in the city, and Adelaide Airport wins a national award.
Adelaide Airport. Photo supplied
- Deloitte flags Festival Tower move
- South Australian company to illuminate Hunter class frigates
- Real estate deal for student accommodation
- National gong for Adelaide Airport
- Conference to explore SA’s India opportunity
Deloitte flags Festival Tower move
A computer image of Deloitte within the 29-storey Festival Tower. Photo: supplied
Big four consulting firm Deloitte has announced it will occupy four floors of Walker Corporation’s Festival Tower when the project is completed in 2024.
The professional services giant announced last week it will tenant around 7000 square metres of space in the 29-storey office tower in a bid to accommodate 1000 new employees over the next five years.
They will join anchor tenant Flinders University as the main occupants of the 115-metre tower currently under construction behind Parliament House.
“Our move to Festival Tower reflects our unwavering commitment to our clients in Adelaide in delivering relevant and integrated services, whilst also raising the benchmark in modern workspaces, by enabling our people to collaborate more effectively than ever before,” Deloitte Adelaide managing partner Hendri Mentz said in a statement.
Walker Corporation CEO David Gallant said the company was “currently in negotiations with some of South Australia’s most exciting and well-known retailers” to activate the broader Festival Plaza project, which includes an adjacent three-storey retail building.
He also touted Deloitte’s presence in the Festival Tower as an impetus for other “blue-chip organisations” to “position themselves in the true heart of Adelaide”.
“Festival Tower is bringing premium quality to Adelaide’s commercial office space market that has never been seen before, and that is creating strong demand in our leasing inquiries,” Gallant said in a statement.
The state government flagged in September that it would be open to Walker Corporation submitting a bid to build a second-tower behind Parliament House, with Planning Minister Nick Champion describing the current plans for three-storey retail building as a “lost opportunity”.
South Australian company to illuminate Hunter class frigates
REDARC Defence & Space has been awarded a $23 million contract to supply 12,600 LED lights for the first batch of three Hunter class warships being built by BAE Systems Australia at the Osborne Naval Shipyard.
The contract is the culmination of a five-year collaboration between REDARC and UK company MARL International which will see Lonsdale-based REDARC lead the manufacture and delivery of lighting and related parts for the Royal Australian Navy’s anti-submarine warfare frigates.
They will manufacture and supply 79 different types of lights for each frigate, including bunk and flood lights, weatherdeck and step lights, general and emergency lights.
REDARC’s Managing Director and owner, Anthony Kittel, said being able to deliver maritime LED lights is a great step for the company.
“This contract will allow REDARC Defence & Space to further grow our defence workforce and upskill our current staff as well as our Australian supply chain.”
Real estate deal for student accommodation
The 34-storey Switch Adelaide Central building will give priority access to Flinders University students next year. Photo: The Switch Adelaide Central
Flinders University has reached a deal with Nuveen Real Estate to give students “priority access” to a new 347-bed accommodation tower on North Terrace.
The university announced last week it had struck an agreement with the global investment firm to give Flinders students first dibs on “The Switch Adelaide Central” – a 34-level student accommodation tower at 203 North Terrace.
The Tower opened in May this year.
Mark Gregory, Flinders University vice president of corporate services, said the university is planning for increased demand for city-based accommodation for students ahead of Flinders opening its new campus within the Festival Tower in 2024.
“It’s no secret Adelaide has one of the most tightly held rental markets in the nation – supply is tight and that has flow-on effects with affordability,” Gregory said in a statement.
“The Switch features residential living for up to 347 individuals, and we have secured priority access for available beds to support Flinders students to take advantage of this student-focused facility.
“The nearby Adelaide Railway Station means students studying at our Bedford Park, Sturt and Tonsley locations are some 20 minutes from having the best of both worlds – combining exceptional campus experience with a city lifestyle.”
Applications to live at The Switch Adelaide in 2023 are now open.
Nuveen Real Estate has already opened a similar student accommodation building in the Perth CBD and is planning to open other student buildings in Melbourne and Sydney.
National gong for Adelaide Airport
Adelaide Airport has won “Capital City Airport of the Year” at an industry awards night.
The airport took out the top gong ahead of Brisbane, Canberra, Melbourne and Perth airports at the 2022 National Airport Industry Awards at the Adelaide Convention Centre on Wednesday.
The Australian Airports Association also awarded Adelaide Airport the infrastructure award for its $200m expansion of its domestic and international terminal, completed last December.
The Association noted the completion of the project “despite significant COVID challenges” and said Adelaide Airport had “successfully navigated the pandemic, with balance sheet intact, and positioned itself to remain an industry leader with solid foundations for growth”.
Adelaide Airport CEO Brenton Cox said the airport was “delighted to receive this recognition from our peers”.
“We know all airports have been doing it tough over the past three years, but I’m immensely proud of our team who have both managed the extraordinary challenges of COVID but also still managed to complete our biggest infrastructure project since 2005 when the current terminal was first opened,” Cox said in a statement.
“It’s also recognition for our external partners involved in the terminal expansion project as well as helping us keep our airport ‘airworthy’ when aviation ground to a halt in 2020.”
Adelaide Airport Ltd ranked as the state’s 11th largest company on the 2022 South Australia Business Index.
It has this year welcomed back direct flights from Adelaide to Fiji and New Zealand, while Qatar Airways has also expanded its international service from the airport to Doha.
Conference to explore SA’s India opportunity
The Australia India Business Council and Business SA are hosting a conference next month to help South Australian businesses navigate the Indian export market.
The “Discover Export Opportunities with India” luncheon, to be held at the Adelaide Convention Centre on December 7, will explore the opportunities of the new Australia-India free trade agreement signed in April.
The agreement wiped away Indian tariffs on 85 per cent of Australian imports, including items such as sheep meat, wool, copper, critical minerals and alumina.
The two-hour event will hear from Frances Lisson, who is the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade chief negotiator on the free trade agreement, and Jodi McKay, the former NSW Labor leader who is now national chair of the Australia India Business Council.
It will also hear from South Australian businesses currently exporting into the Indian market.
Tickets are $160 for general admissions and $120 for Business SA members.
