The council on Tuesday night adopted its Long Term Financial Plan (LTFP) to 2032/33 and requested the administration prepare a report about the future of its Rundle UPark.

The nearly 50-year-old car park’s “useful life” is projected to end in 2029/30, with the LTFP highlighting the council-owned asset as a future major project opportunity.

“Council intends to review this significant asset for viability regarding operation, ownership and/or redevelopment, in order to meet community need and maximise revenue potential,” the LTFP states.

The Rundle Street UPark at night. Photo: Tony Lewis/InDaily

It comes after the former elected council in 2019 was forced to spend $3.5 million on structural faults identified within the eight-storey car park.

Two years later, a $50 million maintenance bill to keep it operating beyond 2030 was revealed, prompting the council to call on developers to articulate a new vision for the prominent site.

Urban Development Institute of Australia SA division CEO Liam Golding said he has spoken to a number of developers who “would be happy to get their hands on that site and develop it to its full potential”.

He said it was primed for both housing and office space.

“We believe that it should be a mixed-use development, which is meeting some of the Adelaide City Council’s population targets for drawing people into the city, but also activates a prime piece of real estate on a busy precinct,” he told InDaily.

“[It’s] close to the universities [and] along the Rundle precinct. It really is a great place for some high-density development.

“We really need to see some active edges around the development, there’s a place for some car parking there but the ground floor in particular really should be activated across all fronts.”

Golding said the 15-storey office tower redevelopment of the Southern Cross Arcade on King William Street was the type of development that could fit the Rundle UPark site.

A computer image of the Southern Cross Arcade development on King William Street. Image: Future Urban/Cox Architecture

“Obviously there’s a lot of talk about whether there’s a need for office space at the moment, but I imagine that would be a high demand location for office space,” he said.

“But really bringing people into the city by having some residential as a feature of the development would be a priority, in our view.”

The Rundle UPark, also known as the Hungry Jack’s car park, remains a controversial development in Adelaide’s urban planning history, given its construction required the demolition of the former Grand Central Hotel – a large heritage building built in 1911.

The former Grand Central Hotel at the corner of Rundle and Pulteney streets later became a store and was then owned by ETSA before being demolished in 1975. Photo supplied

The site is now zoned for mixed-use development between 21.5 and 43 metres in height, with land uses including shopping, hospitality, commercial and entertainment facilities desired.

Planning Institute of Australia SA division president Cate Hart said the car park reaching the end of its life represented a “huge opportunity… to recognise this as a catalyst site for the city”.

She said a well-planned development could link Rundle Mall with the East End and drive more visitation towards the western end of Rundle Street.

“In that particular bit of Rundle Street, there does I think need to be an uplift in activities there,” she said.

“When you sort of look at what’s opposite, the Target Centre doesn’t provide the level of vibrancy on both of sides of the street that it could have – so we’d be relying on this site to do that and support some of the retail functions.”

Hart said there could also be an opportunity to develop “more of a plaza feel” on the ground floor with a potential link between Rundle Street and Hindmarsh Square, although warned getting a good development would take “a number of years”.

She highlighted the Festival Plaza precinct redevelopment as an example of how to “bring people out and utilise an open space environment”.

“The scale of the building is important, and quite frankly I think architecture has an opportunity here to really showcase some contemporary architectural approaches to how you deal with that piece of land whilst providing some level of density,” she said.

“A tall skinny building is not going to work.

“But there is an opportunity potentially to open out some of the ground floor area for more interactive space between street and ground floor activities… so you’ve got a more of a plaza feel at that end and some outdoor activity space there linking to.

“I’m sure there’s some really great retail outlets that would value being in that part of the city.”

Deputy Lord Mayor Phillip Martin said he would personally like to see the site used for an “architecturally outstanding” concert hall.

“Selling the site to a developer is certainly an option, but this could be one of those once-in-a-generation opportunities to think big,” he said.

“With that iconic location at the head of Rundle Mall and Rundle Street, I want to encourage everyone to give some thought to the possibility of a development with a higher and civic purpose.”

He pointed to Sydney’s Angel Place Concert Hall and Melbourne’s Arts Centre as examples and suggested a Rundle Street concert hall could house Adelaide’s orchestras with co-located music education facilities.

Melbourne’s Arts Centre Photo: David Crosling/AAP

“A larger site would be best, but there aren’t any available with such a central location, two street frontages and rear laneway access,” he said.

“A concert hall would drive City visitation, bringing people back into Adelaide for music performances and I have no doubt that a significant piece of architecture there would, like the great concert halls all over the world, become a tourist attraction.”