‘David and Goliath battle’ sees Adelaide tower plan capped
A six-year-long battle between hundreds of city residents fearing they would be “entombed in concrete” and a developer has been decided by a court.
A court has rejected a developer’s bid to quash a document that stopped it from building a taller tower on part of the old Balfour’s site in the city’s west end.
The Environment, Resources and Development (ERD) court has upheld an enforcement notice from the Adelaide City Council that limits the height Chinese property company Zhengtang can build on the Franklin Street site.
Zhengtang – also known by its parent company, Greaton Development – had previously put forward a proposal to build a 53-metre-tall tower, but was hindered by a Land Management Plan (LMA) it signed with the council in 2014 that capped any development at a height limit of within 20 per cent of 25 metres.
Zhengtang has challenged the LMA through the courts since 2020, and faced swift opposition from about 900 nearby residents.
Residents of the neighbouring Altitude and Gallery apartments were against the move and lobbied the council to ensure the LMA was enforced, saying if the proposal went ahead, they would be “entombed in concrete”.
Deputy Lord Mayor Carmel Noon – who represented the West Franklin Resident Action Group as a party to the court proceedings – said residents were “so excited” at the result in the “David and Goliath case” after years of uncertainty.
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“I always believed this was worth fighting for, even when I was told by lawyers and property specialists that I had no hope,” Noon said.
“But I kept coming back to one simple fact: there was a Land Management Agreement — a legally binding agreement — registered on the Certificate of Title.
“When the developer decided it wanted to go higher, there were already residents who had bought their homes in the reasonable belief that this registered agreement meant something and would help protect their amenity and investment. I was one of those residents.
“The Court has now recognised that people were entitled to rely on that agreement. The residents have been fighting this for over five years.”
During the course of proceedings, the court heard that residents would not have invested in their neighbouring properties if they knew the proposed 53-metre apartment building would be erected on the Franklin Street site because of its size and proximity.
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One resident, William Stuart, told InDaily he was “relieved” by the result and it “vindicated” residents who had seen the years-long battle through three court cases, from the ERD court, the Supreme court and then back to the ERD court, where last week’s verdict was made.
Stuart said the resident group wanted to now work with the council and government to see “a good-looking, proper development that would honour the history of Balfour’s and have a good long-term outcome for the city”.
Stuart told the council in November that the plan for the proposed 53-metre tower would have meant he could “reach out from my balcony and hand a coffee across to my new neighbour”.
The court also heard that Greaton could lose millions if it could not build a taller tower.
A Greaton Senior Development Manager, Vasilios Couros, who had worked on the Balfours Project, told the court it was “not commercially feasible” for Greaton to develop the land to the limited height. He told the court it would result in a financial loss of $9.68m, compared to a profit of $8.54m if Greaton could build a 53-metre tower.
Judge Burnett and Commissioner Ryan wrote in their judgment that Couros’ “feasibility study could not be described as an expert report”.
“At most, it can be said that the internally held view of Zhengtang is that the 25 metre apartment building is not viable and that it is unlikely that Zhengtang would proceed with the development,” the court judgement said.
Greaton Development was contacted for comment.
The West Franklin tower was originally set to be 25 metres tall when plans were first lodged in 2012, as part of a concept plan by developers Urban Construct and Brookfield Multiplex, which managed the land. But the development approval lapsed before construction commenced.
Zhengtang bought the land and entered into the existing LMA in 2014. Its 53-metre plan was the second stage of an estimated $300 million West Franklin project in Adelaide’s West End.
The first stage was completed in 2019, and a third stage comprising of a 17-storey student accommodation tower on Elizabeth St was also mooted.
Any future development on the site is subject to approval from the state’s planning commission.
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