Pelligra Poised to Sign SA Land Deal for Innovation Hub

Property magnate Ross Pelligra is expected to sign a deal this week to buy two parcels of land 25km from Adelaide, with plans to build a sports, entertainment and innovation hub in the outer northern suburb. 

Pelligra officials say they are just “days away” from signing a deal with Playford City Council for a total 12,000sq m on either side of the Philip Highway in the centre of Elizabeth.

The Melbourne-headquartered developer has plans for an indoor ice sports arena, a rock-climbing facility, two indoor sports courts and a gymnasium—all supported by a food and drink tenancies.

However, on the second lot of about 1000sq m Pelligra plans an eight-storey office building as part of the $80-million-development, designed to attract entrepreneurial start-ups, high-growth companies and accelerator programs to about 5000sq m of leasable floor space.

Critically, Pelligra plans to target South Australia’s big defence technology industry.

“You’ve got the logistics to the north, you’ve got defence and submarines happening at Port Adelaide and you’ve got future industries in Mawson Lakes which all surround Elizabeth,” said Pelligra’s property development manager, Blake Soroka.

“This is designed to be a central hub for those amenities, bringing all those sorts of companies into a central locality, instead of all being in their own independent areas.”

A quarter of Australia’s specialist defence businesses are in South Australia, and seven of the world’s top-10 defence companies have offices in the state, including BAE systems, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, and Saab.

▲ The sporting facility will include an indoor ice sports arena, a rock-climbing facility, two indoor sports courts and a gymnasium.

Pelligra won an open-market tender to buy the sites from Playford, submitting designs and commercial terms for the two developments in what is the Playford central precinct.

“The northern suburbs of South Australia don't have anything like this, an office amenity if you like, where small businesses and larger businesses can actually reside,” Soroka said.

Playford council agrees. Mayor Glenn Docherty said of the plans, “These well-advanced proposals tick the boxes in terms of providing entertainment and business opportunities in the heart of our city”.

Pelligra has been investing heavily in South Australia since acquiring the former Holden site in Elizabeth in 2017, transforming it into the Lionsgate Business Park with a mix of industrial, construction, logistics and e-commerce tenants.

Their South Australian portfolio includes the old Wakefield Hospital, office buildings on Pirie, Grenfell and King William streets in the capital and the Adelaide 36ers Arena.

Soroka says their plans for an ice-hockey arena came after they recognised a strong interest for the sport in South Australia.

“There’s a huge lack of facilities for one, for both professional recreational use, and we thought that’s quite a niche market that that could be filled.”

The property group has expanded its sports business in recent years with the acquisition of baseball team the Adelaide Giants, and the Adelaide Lightning, who play in the  Women’s National Basketball League.