It comes as Lord Mayor Sandy Verschoor calls on the government to partner with the Adelaide City Council to redevelop the site, which houses two state heritage-listed buildings – the Angas Building and the Allan Campbell Building fronting King William Road – as well as one local heritage-listed building.
“This is a highly complex site involving multiple buildings, stakeholders and challenges,” the Renewal SA spokesperson said.
“The masterplanning of the site and its surrounds will require extensive consultation and engagement given its prominent location and the large number of landowners, businesses and residents who will be impacted by its redevelopment.”
The Women’s and Children’s Hospital in North Adelaide. Photo: Tony Lewis/InDaily
Construction of the $1.95 billion new Women’s and Children’s Hospital at the railyards site next to the Royal Adelaide Hospital is scheduled to start later this year ahead of an anticipated opening in 2027.
Selling the current Women’s and Children’s Hospital site to a private developer would present a lucrative opportunity for the State Government, given it spans a major landholding of five allotments over two site areas, overlooks the park lands and is close to key landmarks including Adelaide Oval and St Peter’s Cathedral.
The government could also decide to redevelop the site, as it did with the old Royal Adelaide Hospital on North Terrace, which is now the Lot Fourteen innovation precinct housing research and technology companies, as well as a soon-to-be-built Entrepreneur and Innovation Centre and Tarrkarri Centre for First Nations Cultures.
Treasurer Rob Lucas told the Marshall Government did not have a specific vision in mind for how the site could be used.
There is enormous potential to create something which can help shape our city for generations to come
Asked if he was pushing for a particular form of development, Lucas jokingly responded: “a big waterslide or Disneyland”.
“The honest answer is no,” he said.
“There’s no obvious government project that I can think of. People are talking about concert halls and things like that, but you wouldn’t need a site that big for a concert hall.”
Lucas, who is retiring in two weeks, said it was “way too early” to confirm whether the land would remain in government hands or sold to a private developer.
“Those sorts of issues haven’t even been considered at this stage,” he said.
“Clearly there are going to be projects for development opportunities considered, whether they be government projecxjmtzywts or whether they’re a combination or government and private, or whether it’s a private development.
“None of those issues have been canvassed yet and all of those issues would be for a future government to contemplate and go through a process in terms of how you would manage an expressions of interest or market sounding.”
contacted Labor for comment but did not receive a response.
Verschoor said redeveloping the Women’s and Children’s Hospital site presented “enormous potential” for the city.
She said it was important for the council to have a “seat at the table”, so that it could partner with the State Government on a redevelopment project.
“While Council has no formal position on future development at the current Women’s and Children’s Hospital site, there is enormous potential to create something which can help shape our city for generations to come,” the Lord Mayor said.
“Given its proximity to the park lands, the city and North Adelaide, it would be a highly desirable area to live, work, play and shop – extending the diversity of housing options as well as the retail offerings from both O’Connell Street and Melbourne Street.”
The Women’s and Children’s Hospital in North Adelaide. Photo: Tony Lewis/InDaily
Long-term city councillor and North Adelaide resident Anne Moran said most locals expected the site to be redeveloped into “prime residential real estate of some sort”, or another medical facility.
She said she didn’t mind if a new development exceeded North Adelaide’s height limit – the tallest building at the current Women’s and Children’s Hospital being 10-storeys – given its location.
“You could probably go quite tall residentially on that site – I don’t have so many concerns there because it’s on the hill, it’s separated from the residents,” she said.
“The government will probably want to build quite large apartment blocks to get some of their money back to pay for some of the new hospital, but there might be more lucrative uses – I don’t know.
“We wouldn’t like any hotels, convention centres or anything that really should be in the fabric of the city.
“I’m always suspicious the government will do that, even though they have no particular plan because it’s way off.”
A Renewal SA spokesperson said planning was still “very much in its infancy”, with a redevelopment schedule to be determined by the construction of the new hospital.
