The Curse of 51 Pirie Street

Punters eager to return to the King’s Head Hotel for a pint will likely have to wait a little longer than first anticipated.

As InDaily reported on Thursday, plans to renovate the King William Street live music venue with a new 16-storey hotel at the rear look firmly not on schedule for a grand re-opening in December.

The boarded up frontage of the state heritage listed King’s Head Hotel. Photo: Thomas Kelsall/InDaily

But the King’s Head developers are certainly not the first to propose something in Adelaide that doesn’t get delivered on time. In truth, the delay is not even in the same league as some other city projects.

To give just one example, there have been plans dating as far back as 2009 to transform the former Bank of South Australia building on the corner of Pirie Street and Gawler Place.

The 1927-built bank and its 1980s-era Gawler Place façade – once described by planning authorities as a “brutal concrete express-form addition” (about as harsh as you’ll get in planning speak) – sits dilapidated and vacant, apparently under some sort of curse which prevents it from ever being redeveloped.

Over roughly 15 years, no one has worked out to redevelop the former State Bank building at 51 Pirie Street. Photo: Thomas Kelsall/InDaily

Property investment giant Charter Hall had the first crack, securing approval in 2012 for a 22-storey office building with shops on the ground floor.

The proposal designed by Sydney architects Fitzpatrick+Partners would have retained the bank’s local heritage-listed Pirie Street façade and seen 32,000 square-metres of “A-grade” office space built above.

The original Charter Hall proposal for a 22-storey office building at 51 Pirie Street. Image: Fitzpatrick+Partners

That plan went nowhere, so Charter Hall sold the site in 2014 to South Australian-based development firm LGB Australia for a reported $13 million. LGB then partnered with the Singapore-based Park Hotel Group to propose an ambitious 30-storey hotel and apartment building.

The 30-storey Park Hotel proposal for 51 Pirie Street was to be Adelaide’s second-tallest building at nearly 115-metres when it was revealed in 2015. Image: GHDWoodhead

The $175 million plan – revealed at an official signing ceremony in Singapore – featured 280 apartments, 250 hotel rooms, an open-air “sky-deck”, bar, café, pool, gym and sauna. The project came complete with a media release from former Trade and Investment Minister Martin Hamilton-Smith hailing it as a “coup” for South Australia.

Naturally, nothing was ever built.

Singapore-listed developer Chip Eng Seng Corporation then bought the site in 2016.

Three years later, it came out trumpeting the return of the Hyatt brand to Adelaide after winning approval to demolish the bank building for a 28-storey, 295-room hotel.

This time it was former Tourism Minister David Ridgway’s turn to be left at the altar as he touted the project – scheduled for completion in 2023 – as a “fantastic opportunity” for South Australia “to have the highly respected and internationally renowned Hyatt Regency back in Adelaide”.

The 28-storey Hyatt Regency Adelaide revealed in 2019. Image: GHDWoodhead

Delays emerged in February 2020 and the hotel was downsized to 21-storeys. More delays were revealed November 2021 and the developers applied to extend their planning approval until August 26, 2024.

That brings us to where we are now.

The most recent 21-storey plans approved for 51 Pirie Street. Left image: ARUP; right image: CEL Australia and GHD Woodhead

With the curse on 51 Pirie Street approaching North Adelaide Le Cornu territory, the developer, CEL Australia director Robert Lee, told InDaily in January they were in the “final stages of refining” a plan that would be announced in the “second quarter of this year”.

For those playing along at home, the second quarter of this year ends on Sunday. Any announcement incoming?

“Will come back to you late July,” Lee told InSider via text this week.

“We are updating costs on design changes and will provide an update when we finalise late July.”

For those who’ve been following the saga for the last 15 years, perhaps another month isn’t too long to wait. For now, though, the curse of 51 Pirie Street lives on.

Who let the trucks out?

Still on development, the Malinauskas Government wasted no time getting the word out about its “Housing Roadmap” announcement this week, in another sign that the taxpayer’s record spend on marketing and advertising is not slowing down.

The Premier gave a rousing speech to the property and development sector at a Convention Centre lunch on Tuesday to outline a series of policy changes – headlined by an $85 average annual increase in water bills – aimed at helping get South Australia out of its housing crisis.

InSider left the Convention Centre’s media table around 4pm on this gloomy Adelaide Tuesday and was surprised to find a truck already lurking outside the Hungry Jacks car park on Pulteney Street, luridly spruiking the government message.

The government is getting on with the job of advertising its housing announcements. Photo: InDaily

The “Housing Roadmap” truck was conspicuously stationed in a loading zone (no sir, it’s not your weekly delivery of processed meats and burger buns, just 40,000 new homes delivered by the Malinauskas Government). We also hear reports a similar truck made it to North Adelaide’s O’Connell Street that night – an area noted for its love of new housing developments.

The truck advertising method is strikingly similar to some of the branding rolled out for February’s “State Prosperity Project”, in which the cabinet went on a tour of the Upper Spencer Gulf to sell its plans for hydrogen, green iron and the northern water project.

An advertising truck for the State Prosperity Project. Photo: InDaily

The total cost of that campaign reached more than $1.6 million, according to government advertising disclosures, although that also included beer coasters and beer mats – something we’re keenly waiting to see with the Housing Roadmap.

No method was left untouched in the government’s State Prosperity Project advertising. Photo: InDaily

Government marketing and advertising spending reached more than $45 million last financial year – a record. Solstice Media, the publisher of InDaily, also receives state government advertising in its titles, including during that period. 

Roll up, roll up for the event of all events! Photo: Unsplash

Adelaide’s spud-tastic event

Adelaide played host to spudding potato growers from around the world this week at the 12th World Potato Congress, hosted by Potatoes Australia Ltd.

More than 1000 delegates from around the world landed in Adelaide for the event, which provided a real mash-up of talent.

The event allowed people to chip in with their latest approach, reviewing business trends and exploring ways to boost productivity and sustainability. The Department of Primary Industries and Regions South Australia was a star(ch) sponsor, also showing off South Australia’s own potato industry with a booth at the congress.

South Australia pro-frieds around 35 per cent of Australia’s potatoes, growing more than 540,000 tonnes annually.

Okay, those are all the potato puns InSider can think of right now. We know there has to be more, but to be honest, we had a big night last night at our 40 Under 40 Awards and the brain isn’t working like it should.