Buckingham Arms three-storey development given green light
A scaled down three-storey townhouse development behind the local heritage listed Buckingham Arms Hotel in Gilberton has been granted planning approval – but a 10-storey apartment project is still on the cards.
The Walkerville Council Assessment Panel on Monday granted planning consent to developers Citify to build 29 three-storey townhouses behind the vacant Buckingham Arms on the corner of Walkerville and Northcote Terrace.
The upmarket townhouses, targeted at executives and downsizers, will all have three bedrooms, two bathrooms, two off-street car parks and a total floor area between 197 and 254 square metres.
A render of the approved development from Northcote Terrace. Image: Citify and SMFA/supplied
The rear of the Buckingham Arms Hotel. Photo: Thomas Kelsall/InDaily
The Buckingham Arms Hotel will be repurposed into a restaurant that can host “regular social and business gatherings for the wider locality”, according to the plans.
The pub – a Gilberton landmark dating back to the 1840s that became famous for its smorgasbord – has been vacant for more than two years and its rear was gutted by a fire in November.
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The state government rezoned the 6219 square-metre Buckingham Arms site in May 2022 for six-storey housing, making it one of the most significant urban renewal opportunities in Adelaide’s inner suburbs.
The V-shaped site where a three- or 10-storey development is planned. Photo: supplied
An aerial render of the three-storey proposal. Image: Citify and SMFA/supplied
But the site has since become a flashpoint in the state’s perennial debate over where to locate new housing.
In March, the State Commission Assessment Panel (SCAP) rejected an application from Citify to build a 10-storey apartment development with 193 new homes, describing it as “over-development” amid concerns from locals about height and density.
Citify appealed the rejection in the Environment Resources and Development Court and in October revealed a redesigned 10-storey apartment proposal.
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The latest 10-storey plan features 130 residential apartments, 57 tourist apartments, 246 basement car parks, two restaurants and a café.
The new 10-storey proposal for the Buckingham Arms Hotel site comes after an earlier proposal (inset) was rejected. Image: Stallard Meek Flightpath Architects, inset image: Forum
Walkerville Council’s approval of the three-storey townhouse plan does not rule out the 10-storey development going ahead.
Citify managing director Joel Wilkinson said they still intend to get planning approval for the redesigned 10-storey plan at a SCAP hearing set down for January 22.
Wilkinson said they were “obviously very pleased that we’ve got approval for something on the site” and that “at least gives us the certainty that we can build something there”.
But asked whether he intended to build the 10-storey apartment project if it’s approved next month, Wilkinson said: “It’s still the preference.”
“You get a lot more housing out of it, you get commercial outcomes, you get retail restaurant precinct, you get NDIS housing, you get affordability,” he said.
“You’re not going to get the 20-25 affordable homes in the other application.”
The three-storey townhouse project, which has 101 fewer homes than the 10-storey proposal, was revealed by Citify in July
Citify has previously estimated it could complete the townhouses within 12 months of receiving planning approval.
“We’re happy to have something approved on the site after two and a half years and just really keen in 2025 to get something building because these project turnaround times can be expensive,” he said.
The court appeal has been put on hold pending the SCAP hearing next month.