People need somewhere to live, but they also need somewhere to work.
The housing crisis has taken up the national spotlight. But there is another class of property facing a supply shortage, and it is pronounced in South Australia.
The Property Council in South Australia has released a report titled “Land Locked: The economic potential of unlocking Adelaide’s industrial land supply”.
Industrial and employment lands accommodate the buildings where we work, manufacture, receive, store, and distribute goods.
This report seeks to highlight both the value and contribution this asset class makes to our state, and looks to answer the questions:
- How much industrially zoned land remains in Adelaide, and how much of this is development ready?
- What does Adelaide’s population growth mean for the industrial sector?
- What can be done to ensure Adelaide’s industrial sector has the platform to grow in the future?
The report uncovers that without immediate action, development-ready industrial land in Greater Adelaide could be exhausted within two years.
The Property Council and its members seek to collaborate with the State Government to unlock development-ready industrial land and commit to the preservation of existing industrial precincts.
The key recommendations of our report are:
- Funding to unlock industrial land: Establish a minimum $250m fund to enable Renewal SA to fast-track industrial projects by delivering enabling infrastructure and supporting land preparation and remediation.
- Land release targets: Commit to the annual release of 25 hectares of serviced industrial land in Greater Adelaide.
- Fast tracking: Implement a fee structure to support fast-tracked development applications and code amendments.
- Improve service efficiency: Expand the remit of HIPDU and resource it appropriately to create a coordination team to facilitate future water, electricity and power service planning between utility companies and the private development sector for industrial projects.
- Servicing flexibility: Consider alternative strategies to servicing sites with utilities until permanent alternative methods can be established.
- Protect key industrial precincts: Ensure that the Greater Adelaide Regional Plan protects key industrial precincts and plans for new ones with connectivity to housing and freight infrastructure.
- State Government Guidance: Provide guidance to local government and the private sector on how to identify, assess and rezone employment precincts through the development of a real-time industrial land availability tracker.
