Bowden development

The Bowden development is an urban development in the Australian state of South Australia on a site formerly owned by the Clipsal corporation in the suburb of Bowden, within the City of Charles Sturt, in the Adelaide metropolitan area. The site covers an area of 10.25 hectares (25.3 acres) and is bounded by Park Terrace to the south, the Outer Harbor railway line to the west, Drayton Street to the north and Sixth and Seventh Streets to the east. The Government also acquired the adjoining 5.9-hectare site which had been owned by Origin Energy (known as the Brompton Gasworks site). Currently the overall Bowden development site is 16.3 hectares.

History

The Clipsal factory in Bowden in the foreground

The Bowden site was occupied by Clipsal, a company manufacturing conduit and electrical accessories, in 1936. The opportunity for an urban development on the site grew out of the South Australian Government's plans for eleven transport-oriented developments in the Adelaide metropolitan area, combined with Clipsal's decision that the Bowden site is surplus to company requirements and plan to vacate. The site was originally offered for sale in early 2008 with offers to be received by July 2008. Offers in the realm of 75 to 80 million Australian dollars were expected however evidently not attained; as the 2008 economic crisis accelerated and falling property prices diminished the likelihood of a sale at expected prices, the South Australian government intervened and announced in October 2008 that it would purchase the site. It was revealed in November 2008 the government had agreed to pay A$52.5 million.

2008–2011

In late 2008, the State Government acquired a 10.25ha parcel of land owned by Gerard Industries (known as the Clipsal site). In early 2010, the government acquired the adjoining 5.9ha site owned by Origin Energy (known as the Brompton Gasworks site).

Both sites are located within the City of Charles Sturt and are directly adjacent to the Adelaide parklands. The aim is to transform the combined sites into an inner-city, higher intensity, mixed use urban village. The final vision developed collaboratively with the community and stakeholders states: “Bowden Urban Village is a creative and diverse community, living and working in a high density sustainable urban environment. Its character, parklands connections and integrated urban design will offer a new and distinctive place in Adelaide for residents and visitors.”

The South Australian Government anticipates that the site will be used to develop more than 2,400 residential apartments and terrace homes, in addition to retail outlets and commercial offices around a town centre. The South Australian Government is promoting the plan as an economically, socially and environmentally sustainable development. Bowden is served by Bowden railway station, North Adelaide railway station, buses on Hawker Street and Port Road, and the tram from the nearby Adelaide Entertainment Centre on Port Road, Hindmarsh.

In April 2011, the plans for the development were approved and an information and sales centre opened in March 2012.

Following demolition, site cleanup, surveying, planning and approval, remediation and development are underway. In July 2014, the first residents moved in and the development is expected to be completed by 2020 to 2025. The development is expected to increase the population of Bowden, which was 648 in the 2006 census, by 3,500.

External links

• Renewal SA Bowden project page
• Life More Interesting website