SA Developer Eyes Apartment Plans in Blue-Ribbon Suburb

South Australian developer Otello Projects has unveiled plans for a seven-storey mixed-use project in a blue-ribbon Adelaide suburb,

The proposal for 46 Unley Road at Unley, just south of the SA capital’s CBD, comprises 15 apartments atop a 221sq m office.

Apartments would be in a mix of two and three bedrooms with a four-bedroom penthouse crowning the block.

The architectural statement supporting the application said the buildings “comprise Manhattan and Parisian-inspired elements while having regard to the existing history and built form context of Unley Road”.

The development would herald a new era of mid and higher rise development for the area, which is typically low-density, according to the application. 

“The proposed development on Unley Road is a thoughtful response to the existing and future context of the local built environment,” Otello Group director Daniel Harris told The Urban Developer.

▲ Enzo Caroscio Architecture designed the building proposed for Unley.

The design also aims to activate street frontage along Unley Road.

Otello has focused on mixed-use precinct scale developments “in key Adelaide locations” including townhouses at Kurralta Park, a midrise project at Mile End and a 10-storey tower at Kent Town. 

South Australian development has picked up pace in the past few years as Adelaide’s population has grown—it is sitting just behind Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne at 2 per cent annual growth in the year to June, 2023, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. 

The city recorded the strongest price growth behind Melbourne in October, according to PropTrack’s Home Price Index, with the SA Government keen to attract further development as a result, putting $2-billion worth of project sites up for grabs in recent weeks.