News & Updates

Pictured Above: (left) Sam Kennard, CEO of Kennards Self Storage and (right) Tim Gurner, Owner GURNER™

Kennards Self Storage acquired the Adelaide Mail Centre from Australia Post in 2020 and have now finalised the future direction of the surplus land. Joining forces with luxury residential developer, GURNER™, to create a landmark luxury residential and commercial precinct at this gateway location.

The entire 17,000 square metre property will be developed in two parts. Kennards Self Storage will develop the 6,000 metre parcel, which is occupied with an existing 24,000 square metre former mail sorting centre. The works are rapidly advancing to convert it into a state-of-the-art high security self storage centre. This building sits on 6,000 square metres on Gouger Street.

The new Kennards Self Storage centre will boast over 1,500 storage spaces and also include climate controlled wine cellars, gun storage and personal custody boxes. It is expected Kennards Self Storage will be open and renting spaces before Christmas. 

The balance of the land will see a luxury residential project, on 1.1ha of the site at 237 Grote Street, Adelaide. This Is the GURNER™ led project. It will bring together a destinational mixed-use precinct spanning 750+ residences with six-star amenity across four towers, a five-star hotel, over 15,000sqm in retail and commercial space, an entertainment and recreation component and public plaza, with an estimated end value of $1.25billion – offering locals and tourists something not currently available in Adelaide.

Part of the 1.7ha site is a 24,000sqm six-level building originally constructed for Australia Post to sort and distribute mail near the CBD; when technological changes saw letter volumes reduce and the building eventually become obsolete, Australia Post put the property on the market.

The strategic partnership between the two groups – the first of its kind in the self-storage space – will see Kennards repurpose the former Australia Post building into next-generation storage facility, which will be seamlessly integrated into the master plan, and GURNER™ will bring its vision to life for an iconic mixed-use, residential, self-storage and commercial office super-site across 11,000sqm of prime development land.

“This is an incredible site, and we could not be happier to be partnering with such iconic Australian success stories in Kennards and Sam, to bring a shared vision for the development to life – we’ll be creating something very ambitious, something that hasn’t been done before in this sector”, Tim Gurner stated.

“The main focus of this city-changing site will be a transformative public realm, that will become a key attraction for Adelaide CBD”.

“We are always inspired by our amazing partners – the work of Sam and his family over the generations is simply incredible, and we look forward to this being the first of many great partnerships together”.

The announcement of the new project is a timely one for Adelaide – which was named the third-most liveable city in the world according to The Economist Intelligence Unit’s Global Liveability Index for 2021 – as CBD living, luxury property and amenity-rich projects continue to be favoured by owner-occupiers and downsizers alike.

“When we originally purchased the site in 2020, we had seven existing locations in Adelaide but had been searching for the right CBD location for a number of years”. Sam Kennard CEO of Kennards Self Storage explains.

“We approached GURNER™ as part of a small EOI process and their vision for the site absolutely blew us away – there is no doubt their bold proposal will create a new landmark for Adelaide’s CBD”.

“We are delighted to be partnering with such a forward-thinking developer with whom we can collaborate and create a unique precinct for Adelaide and a first for our industry at the same time”, Sam said.