Westfield West Lakes housing plan, now with David Jones closing
The 17 August housing announcement now sits beside a retail shake-up, which changes how the site's future reads.
- Source Briefing
- Read original source · InDaily, 17 August 2026
On 17 August 2026 the South Australian Government unveiled plans for up to 2,000 homes on the Westfield shopping centre site at West Lakes, owned by Scentre Group. That is a proposal at the rezoning stage, not an approval. The news since then is that David Jones, a department store, has been reported to be closing its West Lakes store, which adds a new variable to the site’s retail future.
Why it matters
The August plan would bring medium- and high-density apartments, potentially up to 20 storeys, onto land that today is a 71,439 square metre shopping centre with about 3,900 ground-level car spaces. InDaily reported that some of those spaces would be targeted for housing, and that the centre would keep trading throughout the land investigations and any future construction.
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On 11 November InDaily reported that receivers will close 19 of David Jones’ 38 stores, and named West Lakes and Marion among them. Our earlier story covers that list. The receivers, FTI Consulting, said staff would be consulted over seven days and that no final closure date had been set, though they expected the 19 stores to stop trading by the end of the year. David Jones employs about 6,000 people, and the closures would leave Rundle Mall as the only David Jones store in South Australia. InDaily does not name the landlord for either Adelaide store, so we do not state who holds those leases.
The numbers
According to InDaily’s August report:
- Up to 2,000 new homes.
- Building heights potentially up to 20 storeys.
- Centre floor area of 71,439 square metres.
- About 3,900 ground-level car spaces.
Premier Peter Malinauskas said the development would meet demand from workers, including those commuting to the AUKUS submarine construction yard on LeFevre Peninsula. The report also noted a separate plan for more than 1,300 homes at nearby Seaton, announced a month earlier.
What’s next
The housing plan depends on a planning code amendment, which begins the rezoning process. We could not read the amendment itself, so we do not report its stage beyond InDaily’s description, and no consultation outcome has been published in the material we reviewed.
Two questions are open for retail watchers. First, whether a department store closure changes the centre owner’s appetite to repurpose retail floor space for housing; neither source says it does. Second, what happens to the vacated space if the closure proceeds, since the receivers’ reported timeline is the end of 2026. Neither source addresses either point.
Sources
InDaily’s 17 August and 11 November 2026 reports, linked above.
Quick answers
What is the latest on Scentre Group?
The 17 August housing announcement now sits beside a retail shake-up, which changes how the site's future reads.
What are the key numbers in this story?
homes proposed: 2,000; centre floor area: 71,439 sqm; potential height: 20 storeys.
Where does this information come from?
This story cites InDaily, 17 August 2026 and InDaily, 11 November 2026. Every source is linked on the page.
On the record
Our earlier coverage lists the David Jones West Lakes store among 19 closures, which post-dates the 17 August West Lakes housing plan.
Our coverage · Read our earlier story
Also reported by
- InDaily, 17 August 2026Plans for thousands of new homes and high-rises for city suburb
- InDaily, 11 November 2026David Jones reportedly set to close half its stores
Filed by the AusDev Adelaide Desk. How we report.