Tag / construction

by brandsa2018

Hansen Yuncken continues Adelaide Casino ties through $330m expansion

National commercial building company Hansen Yuncken will revisit its history with SKYCITY Entertainment Group when it delivers a $330m expansion of the Adelaide Casino over the next two years.

The major builder worked on the original casino development back in 1985, a time when the Adelaide Riverbank was in stark contrast to the contemporary backdrop it provides today.

The significant expansion will deliver a world-class entertainment precinct and create 1000 construction jobs and a further 800 permanent positions upon its completion.

Set to feature a 123-room luxury hotel, new bars, cafés, restaurants, a 750-seat function space, VIP gaming facilities and a 1500-space car park, the development is the largest private sector investment in Adelaide’s history.

An artist’s impression of the new Adelaide Casino.

For Hansen Yuncken, the casino expansion will join a portfolio of other large infrastructure projects which have helped shape the city over the past 80 years.

State manager Mark Rosenboom says the company is proud to have an input into the development which is expected to draw high end tourists and attract more people to the riverbank.

“This project is going to benefit the city of Adelaide so much in terms of attracting tourists and bringing people into Adelaide specifically to be a part of this fantastic entertainment venue,” he says.

“It’s going to be a great boost for the state as a whole.”

Hansen Yuncken has begun construction on site, with works scheduled for completion in 2020.

The commercial building company is working predominantly with local contractors and suppliers on the 12-level building, managing its construction, logistics, quality and project safety.

Mark says the expansion will continue Hansen Yuncken’s 33-year relationship with the casino.

“We first worked on the original casino development back in 1985 and we’ve been involved in a number of upgrades since then too,” Mark says.

“Continuing the long history that we have with the Adelaide Casino is really important because our business is built on repeat clients and working on the same facilities and precincts over many years.”

While the Adelaide Casino expansion is the biggest project on Hansen Yuncken’s books at the moment, it’s certainly not the biggest in its history.

It was involved in one of the biggest, most expensive, and most significant builds in recent years – the construction of the $2.3 billion new Royal Adelaide Hospital, which opened its doors in 2017.

Hansen Yuncken state manager Mark Rosenboom.

Hansen Yuncken was founded in Melbourne in 1918, opening offices around the country thereafter, including one in Adelaide in 1939.

Its first Adelaide project was the former Bank of NSW office building on the corner of North Terrace and King William streets and now housing 2KW Bar and Restaurant and Jamie’s Italian Restaurant.

Since then Hansen Yuncken has been responsible for the old David Jones building in Rundle Mall, the Adelaide Botanic Gardens Bicentennial Conservatory, the 50 Flinders Street office tower, and the UniSA Cancer Research Institute, among others.

Mark says the key to Hansen Yuncken’s longstanding success in SA is the loyalty of the company’s staff and its ability to maintain long term relationships in the local market.

Hansen Yuncken was behind the construction of UniSA’s Cancer Research Institute.

“In some cases our project partners have gone over generations not just years,” he says.

“Being in Adelaide since 1939 means people understand that you’re here for the long run.”

Mark, who has been with Hansen Yuncken for 24 years, says it’s an exciting time to be a part of SA’s infrastructure industry.

“It’s an exciting time not just because of the volume of work that’s happening but the mix of private, state and federal investment,” he says.

“It’s a good blend and that’s a good sign for the future.”

Visit I Choose SA for Industry to learn more stories about key industry leaders, why they’ve chosen SA as a base and how the state is enabling them to succeed.

by brandsa2018

Concrete company sets the slab for $10m state-of-the-art plant

Adelaide’s leading independent pre-mixed concrete supplier is months away from opening a state-of-the-art wet batch plant that will help cement the company as a “supplier of choice” in the South Australian market.

The 38-year-old local business, Hallett Concrete, is expecting to open its $10m plant in Mile End in Adelaide’s inner west by September/October, creating about 15 new jobs.

The company considers the wet batch plant to be an SA-first as it will have a production capacity of 180m3 per hour, and will reduce its waste and impact on the environment.

Wet batch cement plants allow for the cement to be mixed at a single, central location before being hauled to the job site in a mixer truck.

A dry batch plant, on the other hand, involves all the materials and water being discharged into a truck, which then mixes the cement during transportation to the job site.

Wet batch plants are seen to create a more consistent mixture within a short space of time and are understood to have a lesser impact on the environment due to dust being contained at the plant.

Hallett Concrete’s cement mixers can be spotted on major road infrastructure upgrades in Adelaide.

Hallett Concrete general manager Nigel Waterhouse says the Mile End facility will become the company’s flagship plant.

He says Hallett’s growth has been driven by the state’s burgeoning infrastructure industry, with major road projects such as Adelaide’s North-South Corridor upgrade increasing demand.

“We can see that SA is a growing economy in this industry and we want to be a part of it,” Nigel says.

“That’s why we’re employing more people, putting on (five) more trucks, and building a new concrete plant with new technology and … less impact to the environment.”

Nigel says the new plant will service the CBD region, as well as the inner western and southern suburbs.

He says recent road infrastructure projects, such as the Darlington Upgrade Project (3.3km of South Road at Darlington), are better worked on at night to reduce disruption to traffic.

“We can see that with those roads we need to do a lot of night works, so we need to have a place with the capability of doing 24-hour works,” he says.

“So moving further down the track, we’re looking at doing more night works which have less impact on transport and commuters during the day.”

Hallett Concrete’s mobile plant at Darlington.

The Darlington Upgrade Project – part of the North South Corridor upgrade – is one of the largest concrete delivery projects in the state.

Other projects that Hallett has poured its cement into include the recently opened The Bend Motorsport Park at Tailem Bend, the Torrens to Torrens roadway and the Nyrstar metals processing plant at Port Pirie.

Other clients include ALDI supermarket distribution centres, and residential building companies such as fellow SA business Fairmont Homes.

Part of the MSP Group of companies, Hallett Concrete employs 120 people across its sites at Dry Creek, Elizabeth, McLaren Vale, Port Pirie and Strathalbyn, as well as across its mobile plant operations.

Concept plans for the mile End wet batch plant.

“We’re constantly growing,” Nigel says.

He says Hallett Concrete chooses to operate in SA because of the amount of work on offer.

“Our company was born and bred in SA and we choose to operate here to be part of the state’s exception growth prospects,” Nigel says.

“We want to continue to be the leading concrete supplier of choice in the SA market.

“We have great faith in the customers and the people of SA.”

Visit I Choose SA for Industry to learn more stories about key industry leaders, why they’ve chosen SA as a base and how the state is enabling them to succeed.

by brandsa2018

Leading property developer Jamie McClurg on shaping Adelaide’s skyline

It’s a Monday afternoon and 46-year-old property developer Jamie McClurg is sitting in Commercial & General’s seventh floor boardroom, towering over some of Adelaide’s most prominent landmarks.

Admiring bird’s eye views of Adelaide Oval, Parliament House and Government House, the I Choose SA ambassador says people around the world look at our city with nothing but envy.

“South Australia is a place that will come of age in the next decade,” Jamie says.

“South Australians are smart people. They demand smart options that will enhance our community and job opportunities for our children and, as one of the best places to live in the world, our opportunities are endless.”

As executive chairman of one of Australia’s leading property developers, Commercial & General, Jamie has a solid grasp on the infrastructure that has helped shape our city.

Jamie McClurg is an I Choose SA ambassador for infrastructure.

His Adelaide-based property development and investment agency has developed and owned some of Adelaide’s big infrastructure projects from the SA Police headquarters to the sky high office tower at 50 Flinders Street.

The value of the projects Commercial & General has completed, as well as those currently underway, is $2.1 billion.

The company works across healthcare, industrial, office, residential and social infrastructure projects, and chances are if you’re an Adelaidean, you’ll recognise almost all of them.

Commercial & General is gearing up to build the last standout piece in North Terrace’s biomedical precinct.

Complementing the architecturally renowned South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI) the second instalment, SAHMRI 2, will be home to the first proton therapy unit in the southern hemisphere.

Housed in a three-storey bunker in SAHMRI 2, the Australian Bragg Centre for Proton Therapy and Research will allow doctors to directly treat cancerous tumours with minimal damage to healthy tissue.

The treatment will make a world of difference to people – particularly children – with tumours close to vital organs.

In 2017 Jamie travelled to Boston in the US, to see the effects of proton therapy at the Massachusetts General Hospital.

“It will change lives,” he says.

“While SAHMRI 2 is a piece of infrastructure, at the end of the day it’s an opportunity to cure cancer for kids … that’s something to be more excited about.”

An artist’s impression of SAHMRI 2.

Designed in collaboration with Adelaide-based architect Woods Bagot and other local and international agencies, Jamie says the $320m SAHMRI 2 building will complement, rather than compete, with the first.

“SAHMRI is iconic; we don’t want to repeat it because that won’t do it justice,” he says.

“It’s very important that we do it well to finish off the precinct because it’s the last missing tooth.”

Construction on SAHMRI 2 is expected to commence in 2019.

Another of Commercial & General’s current projects is the $300m Calvary Adelaide Hospital on the corner of Angas and Pulteney streets.

It is the largest single construction contract by the private sector to unfold in Adelaide’s CBD in the last 20 years.

However, Commercial & General’s impact on the city of Adelaide goes further than the large buildings that scrape its skies.

More than 3000 jobs have been, or will be, created in projects that are currently under construction.

“I try not to think about it like that because that’s a lot of families,” Jamie says.

“I started off this business just wanting to move some dirt, have some fun and earn a living like anyone else.”

Jamie’s rise to the top of SA’s property development scene started from humble beginnings.

Commercial & General executive chairman Jamie McClurg on site at the Calvary Adelaide Hospital.

Raised by Irish immigrant parents, he grew up in the northern suburbs, going on to obtain a construction degree at the University of South Australia.

With his father in the real estate industry, Jamie says a career in property was inevitable.

Working on construction projects across the country, he set the foundation for his own business in 1997 while still working for another company.

Alongside business partner and university classmate, Anthony Catinari, the pair created Commercial & General “from nothing”.

Now Commercial & General employs a team of 51 at its Adelaide office, with plans to expand its SA workforce by a dozen this year. It also has offices in Melbourne and Sydney.

The company recently partnered with ASX-listed property giant Dexus, creating the Healthcare Wholesale Property Fund. With seed assets of approximately $340m, it has an anticipated potential pipeline of about $445m.

Jamie says SA’s population and its “humble talent pool” make it the perfect place for investors to do business.

“In a state that is the size of ours, the opportunities are endless,” he says.

“South Australians have always been known as being unique people and world-beaters.

“If you learn to do it here you can apply it to anywhere around the planet.”

Visit I Choose SA for Industry to learn more stories about key industry leaders, why they’ve chosen SA as a base and how the state is enabling them to succeed.