Adelaide CBD's $36m Catherine House tops out, 52 homes due 2027

The $36 million New Generation Catherine House development in the Adelaide CBD reached its full eight-storey structural height in the week before 27 October, InDaily reported, with construction set to finish by early next year. The building will hold 52 apartments for women experiencing homelessness. For SA builders, it is a live example of a community housing project moving through structure on a CBD site this cycle.

Why it matters

The milestone was marked on site with Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong, alongside federal MP Louise Miller-Frost and state ministers Nat Cook and Katrine Hildyard. The building will run as a 24-hour facility overseen by Catherine House and Housing Choices SA.

Demand behind the project is high. Women made up 60 per cent of specialist homelessness service clients in South Australia in June, InDaily reported, and Catherine House receives more than 200 referrals a month. State figures cited in the report show 26 per cent of women using those services did so because of domestic, family and sexual violence. Among older women, homelessness is rising faster than in any other group, government data shows, driven by financial hardship, relationship breakdown and domestic violence.

“Women should never have to choose one or the other,” Minister for Women Katrine Hildyard said, referring to safety and a secure home. Housing Choices Australia chief executive Leilani Frew said the 52 homes and a women’s centre would bring accommodation and support together in one place.

The numbers

The project cost is $36 million. The building rises eight storeys and holds 52 apartments for crisis and longer-term accommodation. Each apartment will have its own bathroom, kitchen and laundry, a first for residents. The building also includes education and training spaces, secure outdoor and communal areas and an on-site Women’s Respite and Recovery Centre.

What’s next

Construction is set to be completed by early next year, according to InDaily. Residents will have access to counselling, health and wellbeing support, case management, legal support and financial assistance, plus personal development programs and employment pathways. The report did not name the builder or set out how the $36 million is funded. The project sits within a CBD pipeline also tracked in the latest RLB crane count.