One of Adelaide’s largest student housing complexes will rise directly opposite the state’s largest university campus, following a strategic land sale by the State Government through Renewal SA.

Journal Student Living, a partnership entity of global asset manager Brookfield Asset Management and Citiplan, will develop the facility on the prominent North Terrace and Frome Street corner, approximately 40 metres from the newly merged Adelaide University campus.

The development is expected to feature a generous public plaza off Frome Street, with ground‑floor retail and hospitality tenancies and open‑air seating to further activate the Adelaide CBD’s premier boulevard.

Valued at about $400 million, the planned project will include a mix of individual and shared accommodation supported by extensive communal spaces.

Student amenities incorporated into the design include open‑plan study areas, a cinema, entertainment complex, shared kitchen and dining facilities, a library and a gym.

Purpose built student accommodation not only provides housing to hundreds of students, but it relieves strain on the private rental market by taking students out of the race for rental homes in the suburbs.

Renewal SA released the North Terrace land to market in 2024, amalgamating two allotments into one substantial corner site before clearing and preparing the land late last year.

The project will be designed by COX Architecture, the team behind the Adelaide Oval redevelopment and the National Wine Centre of Australia.

The size of the site also allows for appropriate height transitions that align with North Terrace’s natural westward incline, paired with generous street setbacks along Frome Street.

This will be the fourth Journal development in Australia in its current portfolio.

Journal Campus House is already operating in Melbourne, with Journal Market Way (Melbourne) and Journal Garden Place (Brisbane) scheduled to open within the next 18 months.

Brookfield owns AUD $11.3 billion in student accommodation assets across 181 properties worldwide, comprising more than 55,000 beds across the United States, United Kingdom and Europe.

Journal is working through administrative planning and approvals process. Early site work and construction is expected to begin this year.

See the first concept image of Journal.