29 July, 2024

Innovative scheme to tackle the housing crisis

The City of Adelaide today will launch an ambitious program to deliver 50 adaptive reuse dwellings annually within the CBD and North Adelaide in partnership with the State Government.

The Adaptive Reuse City Housing Initiative (ARCHI) is utilising $500,000 of State Government grant funding over two years to help reach the target, which will have a significant impact on tackling the ongoing housing crisis. Adelaide has the lowest rental vacancy rate in the country at 0.6 per cent.

The City of Adelaide has extended its existing incentive schemes for sustainability, heritage and noise management to provide a range of funding support streams for residential adaptive reuse projects.

The ARCHI program will be officially launched today (29 July) in Leigh Street, where several buildings have been repurposed through adaptive reuse.

City of Adelaide staff have been working hard developing ARCHI, which largely is aimed at transforming vacant space above retail and commercial premises in the Adelaide CBD into rental or permanent residential living.

Lord Mayor Jane Lomax-Smith said ARCHI is all about unlocking the dwelling potential in vacant and underutilised buildings within the City of Adelaide.

“The City of Adelaide has a population target of 50,000 people living in the city by 2036 which

requires a significant increase in housing supply,” said the Lord Mayor.

“In addition to the various market responses to supply, adaptive reuse has been recognised as an additional pathway to create housing outcomes and can have the added advantage of being quicker than new builds in a number of instances. 

“So we have targeted 50 adaptive reuse dwellings to be delivered annually, with added social, environmental and placemaking benefits to help deliver housing outcomes and to play our part in addressing the housing crisis.

“In our current housing crisis, even small numbers are important in addressing the housing supply challenge.

“As I have said many times over the past 12 months, if we can put a man on the moon we can put a family above a shop.”

Minister for Housing and Urban Development Nick Champion said adaptive reuse is an innovative approach to increase both the supply and variety of properties available.

“There is extremely high demand for housing in the CBD and North Adelaide and adaptive reuse provides a point of difference in the market,” said Mr Champion.

“Converting vacant space above shops into possible housing is a genuine option that will appeal to many people wanting a cosmopolitan and vibrant lifestyle.

“We will continue to look at removing the regulatory barriers to enable investors and developers to look at adaptive reuse as a realistic option, if it’s economically viable.”

Today’s official launch of ARCHI will present a new City of Adelaide homepage dedicated to the project, with details of a new ARCHI Incentives Scheme and ARCHI Guide Notes.

The explanatory guides have been prepared for shop top scale adaptive reuse projects up to four storeys in height to clarify and simplify the adaptive reuse process for building owners.

“Since we formed ARCHI, staff with the assistance of students from the Cities and Housing postgraduate course at the University of Adelaide have undertaken a city-wide building audit to understand the raw potential for adaptive reuse,” said the Lord Mayor.

“This audit has included desktop research, visual surveys and a suitability assessment process against key criteria – 148 records have been collected to date

“We also have reviewed regulations and potential barriers to residential adaptive reuse – this work is ongoing, requiring engagement at a local, state and national level.

“Work is also ongoing on a review of completed local and interstate adaptive reuse projects to understand lessons learnt and demonstrate best practice.”

Background to ARCHI

Since being formally established in October 2023, ARCHI has:

• Established the ARCHI Steering Group chaired by the Lord Mayor to provide essential support, guidance, advocacy, and oversight
• Progressed a city-wide building audit to establish the raw potential for adaptive reuse, with 148 buildings identified as potential sites
• Reviewed regulatory barriers and cost implications for adaptive reuse
• Reviewed existing examples of residential adaptive reuse
• Extended Council’s existing incentives schemes for heritage, sustainability, and noise management to encompass and prioritise adaptive reuse projects
• Prepared guidance material to clarify the adaptive reuse process for building owners

Matt Halliwell