The future of the 52ha site that included the Oakden Residential Aged Care facility, 11km north-west of Adelaide CBD, that had to be shut down by the South Australian Government in September 2017, is about to be decided.
The site of Oakden mental health facility also includes the former Hillcrest Hospital, originally Northfield Mental Hospital, which opened in 1929, and the Strathmont Centre, a disability institution which was shut in 2014.
The SA Government’s agency Renewal SA is in negotiations with a shortlist of developers to build up to 1,500 homes, including affordable housing. There will be retail shops, open spaces and other services.
The site is more than 50% of a 100ha structure plan developed by Renewal SA to plan for future development in the Oakden and Gilles Plains areas in Adelaide’s North West.
Renewal SA is also selling off more than 2.6ha of land, in neighbouring Gilles Plains that could be8 developed into an aged care establishment.
Real estate agent Knight Frank is selling off the land belonging to the closed Gilles Plains Primary School, stating it can hold up to 70 properties. The asking price is likely to fetch more than $5 million.
Knight Frank director Oliver Totani, who is managing the sale of the former school, said the site’s favourable “general neighbourhood” zoning offered an incoming developer a range of options.
