Extensions for City Projects Hitting a Brick Wall

The Mega scale developments might just end of in the bin because the Adelaide city council is refusing to give time extensions. The state Government has altered their guidelines and is unfortunately using these new measures to brick wall previously approved projects, forcing major developers to submit new applications. The clerical costs alone are adding up to millions.

What kind of cost is this going to have on the economy? What kind of cost will this have on the jobs in an already shaky economic environment. Do we really want to stump business development with Bureaucratic tape at a time when growth is essential to the recovery of the  South Australian and greater Australian economy.

Surely the main aim of  the state government should be supporting and aiding development and the growth of large scale projects to booster the economy back into health as opposed to doing the exact opposite. "A city without change is a city for the dead" Leonard Raymond, A Rich City, A Richer Economy.

The Adelaide Office Market - Is it all about the Olympic Dam?

According to Property Australia, no large investments are being made until some strong decisions are made on the expansion of the Olympic Dam. There is a lack of demand for commercial property in  Adelaide's CBD with the vacancy rate declining to 7.7 percent for July 2012.  Once you head outside of the CBD lines though, it's a slightly different story. Vacancies dropped a full 1.1%. What does this mean? Are businesses choosing the cheaper option given the economic times and slow demand?

Of course it's not just a pending decision on the mine expansion to blame for the trending market. Let's not kid ourselves, business conditions are not the best unless your living in Western Australia and wear a hard hat a couple weeks in the month! It's just about become a catch phrase and the blame for all, but investors are still shaky from the woes in Europe.

Let's not forget, Australia as a whole seems to have taken a step back from large future investments, especially in the mining industry. And of course Melbourne is walking on a piece of string hoping not to fall into the ravine with both the manufacturing industry and now the construction industry in deep strife. But it's not all bad, as Wayne Swan likes to tell us. Australia's economy is still arguably the healthiest and most secure in the western world and our interest rates have a lot of breathing room. We also need to put things in perspective and recognise that commercial vacancy in South Australia is still around 12 percent lower than it was 20 years ago! How's that for a positive statistic!