It’s been the heartland for Adelaide footy fans for more than 40 years but Football Park at West Lakes is set to be transformed after the decision by the SANFL to appoint South Australian firm Commercial & General to redevelop the Football Park (AAMI Stadium) precinct.
Commercial & General’s Project Director, Chris Menz said the project would be a mix of residential, retail and community space that would be created over the next decade.
“This site is an exceptional piece of South Australian sporting history with significant emotional value for the state. We recognise and respect that, and thank SANFL for trusting us to work with them to build a suburb we can all be proud of,” Mr Menz said.
”There is no other development in South Australia, possibly Australia, that will offer such a world-class combination of quality residential living, community, sporting and health facilities, plus a high street retail/café precinct … all so close to the lakes, golf course and the beach.”
According to Mr Menz, the development, which is currently only at an evolving concept stage, will be refined to reflect community feedback and input.
“We really want this to be driven by the market and it is all about creating a lifestyle community, complete with inviting meeting places, open spaces and a mix of homes and retail opportunities that people might not normally associate with life in the western suburbs,” he said.
“It is an extensive site, so we’ll be taking our time to make sure we get it right, both for our development partners and the people who will be calling this unique precinct their home.”
One of the key stages of the development will be the demolition of the Football Park stadium, which will only progress in consultation with the SANFL.
“We’re really in their hands with regard to the timing,” said Mr Menz, “so we currently don’t have a firm timeframe in mind but it is likely to occur in the first few years of the project.”
SANFL President John Olsen has commended the project as an exciting revitalisation of the Football Park Precinct.
“We’re looking forward to seeing what the next chapter for Football Park will eventually look like, now that we’ve settled into our new home of Adelaide Oval” he said.
Commercial & General is the developer and manager of the South Australian Police headquarters and has recently also been announced as a partner in the development of a new 300 bed, state-ofthe-art, private hospital on the corner of Angas and Pulteney streets in the Adelaide CBD.
According to Mr Menz – who was previously the Project Director of the former Clipsal site redevelopment at Bowden - the scale of the Football Park project will redefine Commercial & General’s capacity to achieve great outcomes for great partners.
“Commercial & General has a number of exciting projects on the books and we’re delighted to be part of transforming South Australia,” he said.
