Tag / development

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

Adelaide Airport set for $125m terminal expansion

Adelaide Airport will undergo a $165m expansion, creating 200 jobs at construction peak and significantly improving the international travelling experience.

The project – the airport’s largest infrastructure upgrade in more than a decade – will involve an overhaul to the main terminal, including an 80% increase in the size of the dining and retail precinct.

Adelaide Airport managing director Mark Young says the expansion will provide a “seamless, connected experience from the time you drive into the airport until you board your aircraft, and vice versa”.

“Since we opened the existing terminal in 2005, our overall passenger numbers have increased by close to 50%,” he says.

“Our international passenger numbers alone have almost tripled over the same period.

“This extraordinary growth means we need to keep growing our existing facilities.

“While we still have sufficient capacity to meet future forecast growth in the number of flights, we’re reaching capacity within the terminal.”

An artist’s impression of the upgraded terminal, featuring a larger retail and food precinct and greater facilities for international travellers.

The upgrades are expected to significantly improve international arrival and departure areas including a second, longer baggage belt, more space for emigration and immigration processing, expanded security screening and a larger duty-free precinct.

The retail precinct will also undergo a complete refurbishment, increasing by 80% in size across domestic and international areas.

Other improvements include a new premium international lounge, Adelaide’s first international arrival and departure VIP facilities, and a relocation of the Virgin Australia lounge.

Work will begin immediately and be completed by 2021.

ASX-listed construction company Watpac – which has an office in Adelaide – is the project builder and will start on site in a fortnight.

Mark says 70% of materials used in the project and 100% of the labour force will be South Australian.

He says 200 jobs will be created during construction peak, with a further 600 retail positions created due to the retail and dining expansion.

The retail and dining area will increase by 80%.

Mark says the expansion could help attract more international airlines to Adelaide.

“We would like to see a direct service to the west coast of the US, but that is some time off as there is often a 5 to 7-year period of marketing,” he says.

Mark says the airport is also focusing on increasing its services into mainland China.

He says airports form an important basis for people’s travels.

“People really feel that an airport is the start of their journey,” Mark says.

“They use that visitor opportunity to experience a little bit of SA.”

The upgrade is set to be complete by 2021.

Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment, David Ridgway, says the expansion is a vote of confidence in the SA economy and will help grow the state’s tourism industry.

“This redevelopment will enhance SA’s ability to attract more international airlines and accommodate an increase in the frequency of air services in the future – all of which will help grow our economy and support more jobs,” he says.

“It’s certainly very encouraging to see private sector investment of this scale in SA and I would like to congratulate Adelaide Airport on this significant investment.”

Adelaide Airport processes more than eight million passengers a year.

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

Drakes Supermarkets creating 550 jobs for SA

South Australian-born Drakes Supermarkets is building an $80m distribution centre in Adelaide’s north, creating up to 550 jobs.

The project has received the green light from the Playford Council and is expected to create about 300 jobs during construction.

Up to 250 full-time equivalent positions will be created once the centre opens in June, 2019.

The 17ha site at Edinburgh North will incorporate a $12m high tech warehouse picking system.

Drakes general manager Bob Soang says the centre is a major investment in the sustainable future of the local, family-owned business founded in 1974.

“It’s also a long-term investment and vote of confidence in our loyal customers and suppliers,” he says.

“As a local family-owned business we are pleased to create so many jobs in the northern suburbs of Adelaide which have faced many challenges in recent years.

“It will be the most advanced independent distribution and logistics centre in the state and is a key plank of our group’s vertical integration strategy within the supermarket sector.”

An artist impression of the distribution centre, expected to be completed in June, 2019.

Playford Mayor Glenn Docherty says the development is a major boost for the economy to support 35,000 new residents expected to live in the council area by 2026.

“As a gateway to the north, we are perfectly positioned to accommodate this development, particularly with infrastructure development such as the Northern Connector Expressway,” he says.

The 104,000sqm development will have the capacity to house about 23,000 lines of products including grocery, dairy and frozen foods and will include a site suitable for future development.

Drakes’ fresh fruit and veg distribution centre will continue at Pooraka, as will its meat distribution centre at Beverley.

Since being established in the ’70s, Drakes has grown to be one of the largest independent grocery retailers in Australia, with an annual turnover of more than $1 billion and 5500 staff.

It operates 57 stores across SA and Queensland.

Visit I Choose SA to find out how you can support our state by choosing South Australian businesses, products and services.

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by brandsa2018

Inside the architecture of the new Rundle Mall Plaza, H & M store

Aspects in the design of the $40m Rundle Mall Plaza redevelopment featuring an H & M store will be a “standout” and will help reawaken a somewhat tired precinct along Adelaide’s premier retail strip.

Brand SA News caught up with one of the contributors to the four-storey redevelopment, Hames Sharley’s managing director Caillin Howard, for an insight into this retail and infrastructure coup.

Caillin, who has been with the Adelaide-based multidisciplinary design firm for almost 20 years, says the plaza revamp is one of Hames Sharley’s most exciting projects.

“Rundle Mall Plaza isn’t one of our biggest projects at the moment, but is it our favourite at the moment? Absolutely, because of its complexity, because it sits in the middle of the CBD, because it’s not just about retail,” he says.

“It has the ability to touch the most people in Adelaide, therefore it’s a pretty special project.”

Concept imagery of the plaza redevelopment.

Rundle Mall Plaza’s owner, The Weinert Group, announced the redevelopment plans in February, saying the addition of the Swedish fashion giant H & M would be a “significant drawcard for Rundle Mall in particular but Adelaide in general”.

While H & M will be the plaza’s major tenant, the redevelopment spans across four lower levels of the nine-storey building.

The lower ground is expected to become a ‘tech hub’ with offices and co-working spaces, while the ground floor will be dedicated to retail and fashion.

A new, higher-end dining precinct will unfold on level one, with large glass windows overlooking the mall, while a health and wellbeing precinct is envisaged for level two.

A multi-storey void at the main entrance will be a “standout architectural feature” and will host the relocated Progress statue, a welder copper sculpture created by Lyndon Dadswell in 1959.

The refurbished iconic Progress statue will mark the entrance to the plaza.

Caillin says the redevelopment presents a chance for the plaza to take better advantage of its Rundle Mall frontage as well as its activation with Gawler Place and the Myer Centre.

He says the higher-end dining precinct will also give shoppers and nearby workers another option to a unique dining experience able to be enjoyed within an office lunch break.

“You don’t have to have a burger, souvlaki, or sushi in a food court when you’re in that retail mall,” he says.

“You can go and have great fish and chips or great Italian and have a turnaround of 40 minutes rather than going to a café or restaurant.

“Adelaide has heaps of them (cafés and restaurants) and they’re brilliant, but you have to put aside an hour-and-a-half to do it.”

The dining precinct on level one will offer views over Rundle Mall.

Rundle Mall Plaza is just one of the many projects that Hames Sharley’s Adelaide team of 45 is working on, with the Cedar Woods housing development at Glenside among other ventures.

Its portfolio includes the design collaborations on the Adelaide Oval redevelopment and the University of Adelaide’s Braggs building, as well as the Channel Seven studios on Port Road, the Whyalla Hospital, Elizabeth Aquadome, and the West Lakes and Gilles Plains shopping centres.

Caillin says Hames Sharley prides itself on delivering “contextual architecture” by taking into consideration the impact of a building on its surroundings.

“We believe that architecture has a responsibility to answer to its city, site or location, so we have as much responsibility to give back as to take,” he says.

While born in SA, Caillin undertook his secondary and tertiary education in Perth, where he joined Hames Sharley in 1999.

Hames Sharley collaborated with BVN Donovan Hill on the design of The University of Adelaide’s award-winning science and research facility, The Braggs Building.

Hames Sharley is listed as one of the 100 largest design practices in the world and has offices in every capital city across Australia. It was established in Adelaide more than 40 years ago.

With a grandfather as a builder and a father as an architect, entering the world of design was almost inevitable for Caillin, also a keen cricketer and yachtsman.

Stepping up to the role of managing director in 2014, he says there is no shortage of leading architecture and design companies in Adelaide.

“When you have a look at the large practices across the country, I think over 50% of them started in Adelaide,” he says.

“There’s us, Woods Bagot, Hassell, all of these big players who originated out of Adelaide.

“For me, geographically, Adelaide is a great place to be … we have great education and really smart people.

“It’s a really good place to centrally locate the business.”

Rundle Mall Plaza redevelopment is expected to be completed by the end of 2018.

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.