After laying vacant for over a decade, construction set to begin on a major residential and mixed-use development at the heritage-listed former Royal Hotel in Kent Town.

The Royal Apartments development by South Australian developer Palumbo Group will deliver 211 new dwellings across two residential towers while preserving and restoring the iconic State Heritage-listed building, which has stood empty for more than ten years.

Royal Apartments will consist of a 15-level Hills Tower and a 16-level City Tower on the doorstep of the Adelaide Park Lands.

The heritage Royal Hotel building, added to the State Heritage Register in 1986, will be retained and adaptively reused as part of the development.

The development will also include ground-level retail, communal open space, bicycle parking and 235 on-site car parks, with the site situated on a high-frequency bus corridor.

Providing housing for key workers is central to this development, with 20 percent of dwellings set aside for doctors, nurses, police officers and other essential workers at a 25 percent reduction of rental costs.

Royal Apartments also presents high-quality living options for downsizers, freeing up family homes across Adelaide.

The project is being delivered by South Australian family-owned developer the Palumbo Group, who have over seen several high-quality residential and commercial developments across Adelaide.

See an animated fly-through of the Royal Apartments and some artist impression images of the development.