A new apartment development in Bowden is set to deliver unparalleled levels of environmental sustainability and housing affordability through an innovative partnership between government and the private and not-for-profit sectors.

Renewal SA and SA Housing Authority are partnering with not-for profit housing provider Housing Choices SA and award-winning, Melbourne-based housing innovator, Nightingale Housing, to deliver up to 34 affordable apartments and in excess of 200m² of ground floor retail space within the Bowden project.

The new Nightingale Bowden apartments will, for the first time in South Australia, offer carbon neutral housing at the affordable end of the market and will boast minimum 5 Star Green Star and 7.5 Nationwide House Energy (NatHERS) ratings.

The building design will feature attributes not typically seen in affordable housing developments, such as shared rooftop spaces, productive gardens, solar power and rainwater harvesting.

The apartment building will also encourage a strong sense of community and wellbeing through a number of contemporary, communal spaces and indoor Indigenous plantings.

Each apartment will also have ample bike space and access to shared vehicles, enabling transport choice while notably reducing a reliance on vehicles and further boosting Nightingale Bowden’s enviable sustainability credentials.

Importantly, this Adelaide-first collaboration will support the state’s economic recovery efforts and contribute to a robust pipeline of ongoing work for the construction industry. It is also expected to attract interstate private and public investment into the South Australian property market, demonstrating the state’s strength and ingenuity in this sector.

This combination of affordability and sustainability has been made possible through an innovative not-for-profit collective housing model that is a new concept in Adelaide but that has been successfully delivered in similar versions in Melbourne, Perth, Europe and other parts of the world.

The collaboration is expected to spark a revolutionary change in the way that urban housing is delivered and demonstrate that affordable housing can lead the charge in environmentally responsible, sustainable development.

Those who are finding it hard to break into the housing market will have the opportunity to either purchase or rent an expertly designed one-bedroom or two-bedroom apartment that meet the state government’s affordable housing criteria, with at least 75% of the development allocated to Affordable Housing. That means one and two-bedroom apartments will be priced at $419,750 or less.

Located on the corner of Second Street and Drayton Street in Bowden, the apartments will be ideally located near the Bowden train station, tram line, Outer Harbor Greenway and the Adelaide Parklands, and only a short walk away from Plant 4’s thriving marketplace.

The Bowden development will be Nightingale Housing’s first South Australian project, having earnt the reputation as an industry leader for previous work such as the award-winning ‘Nightingale 1’ in Melbourne.

“We are very excited about being able to introduce the Nightingale model to South Australia at Bowden, which we believe is the perfect place for a development of this type,” said Todd Perry, General Manager Property and Project Delivery at Renewal SA.

“There’s a strong alignment between our respective visions. We are creating a connected, walkable and sustainable community at Bowden with a strong emphasis on environmental initiatives and affordability, and Nightingale Bowden will exemplify this.”

Building work on Nightingale Bowden is expected to commence in the second half of 2021. It is anticipated that up to 700 people will work on the site over the 18-month construction process and at its peak approximately 125 workers will be on site per day.

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