#APP: 42-56 Franklin St | Big ugly car park | 8 levels

[Will]

That's promising news. Seems like this building will be called The Atrium. Thread title change?

.

We should wait until Grocon actually buys the land and submits a proposal.

Regarding this latest development, I think this shows a massive vote of confidence in our city. Hopefully if Grocon's plans are succesful, I hope they build a 'Melbourne' style building and not another boring box with pods.

[Howie]

Grocon plan for 2000 worker tower on Franklin St

INTERSTATE property giant Grocon is coming to Adelaide, with plans for a multimillion dollar office tower at Telstra’s former telephone exchange building on Franklin St.

The Melbourne-based company confirmed this week it has been holding talks with the site’s current owner, Tritan Corporation’s Greg Molfetas.

The talks are about buying the block and turning it into The Atrium, a multi-storey office complex with the capacity for about 2000 workers.

It comes just weeks after Lord Mayor Michael Harbison announced plans to recruit a dedicated development staffer to liaise with the industry, following his previous vow to lure East Coast developers to boost the city’s skyline. He said the local industry was too suburban-focused and lacked the skills to build city apartments, therefore preventing the council from reaching its population target of 25,500 people by 2012.

Grocon, which was set up by Luigi Grollo in the 1950s, has built such major developments as Melbourne’s Crown Casino, the Melbourne Convention Centre and Melbourne University. Both parties were tight-lipped when contacted by the City Messenger this week, citing confidentiality agreements. An application to bulldoze the old telephone exchange for a $44 million, 17-storey building with six levels of carparks plus ground-floor shops was approved by Adelaide City Council in 2007.

The joint venture was lodged by the Tritan Corporation and Moritz Group, and while the telephone exchange was later demolished, the site is still empty. Last October another application was lodged by Ambitio for an eight-storey carpark within the same site, which has gone to the state’s Development Assessment Commission for assessment because it is more than $10 million.

Mr Molfetas, managing director of Tritan Corporation, declined to comment but Grocon Group’s development general manager Carolyn Viney confirmed the company had “agreed to the terms of purchase” with Mr Molfetas.

“We’re currently working with a number of groups as potential tenants for the building,” she said. “It’s a great location and we’d be very excited to work in Adelaide.”

Mr Harbison was aware of the plans and said it was “fantastic news” for SA: “It’s still very hush hush but if it came to pass it would be great,” he said. “Adelaide is the place to invest in Australia, the market is less volatile and underpinned by very strong demand.”

The Mortitz Group could not be contacted before the paper’s deadline.

[Prince George]

The talks are about buying the block and turning it into The Atrium, a multi-storey office complex with the capacity for about 2000 workers.

It comes just weeks after Lord Mayor Michael Harbison announced plans to recruit a dedicated development staffer to liaise with the industry, following his previous vow to lure East Coast developers to boost the city’s skyline. He said the local industry was too suburban-focused and lacked the skills to build city apartments, therefore preventing the council from reaching its population target of 25,500 people by 2012.

Hmm, wanted more apartments, built more offices. There's something of a disconnect in the story there.

[Professor]

So this story is officially "all very hush hush". Guess I had better not tell anyone then.

[Pikey]

This is massive news and a massive vote of confidence in Adelaide for Grocon to start up developments in Adelaide. Considering they are more of a residential specialist, having their first foray into SA with a commercial tower is interesting, but still exciting!

[AtD]

That looks like the same render as the original proposal.

[Will]

That looks like the same render as the original proposal.

I suspect the Messenger has used the render of the old proposal, as one of the new 'Atrium' development are not available yet.

[Adelarch]

so does anyone have any idea of how many sqm of office space accommodating 2000 workers translates into roughly?

[AtD]

Anywhere from 30,000 to 45,000 sqm.

[Brando]

Didn't Grocon pull out of the AIR apartments building before selling it to pickard?
I hope they go through with this one...

[iTouch(myself)]

Anywhere from 30,000 to 45,000 sqm.

Thats a lot of floorspace right?

[Will]

Didn't Grocon pull out of the AIR apartments building before selling it to pickard?
I hope they go through with this one...

Yes, but that was 10 years ago. The conditions in Adelaide were very different then, so I have more confidence this time.

[Briggzy_03]

Anywhere from 30,000 to 45,000 sqm.

Thats a lot of floorspace right?

Probably asking too much but does anyone know of a current office building(s) in Adelaide that have similar space that we could compare to.

Definitely seems like Adelaide is getting a vote of confidence, hopefully there's a lot more to come .

[Brando]

Didn't Grocon pull out of the AIR apartments building before selling it to pickard?
I hope they go through with this one...

Yes, but that was 10 years ago. The conditions in Adelaide were very different then, so I have more confidence this time.

True, agree with that one mate.

[Adelarch]

Anywhere from 30,000 to 45,000 sqm.

ok, which for comparison's sake would make it somewhat larger than the 25,000sqm building already planned