Adelaide's skyline is accentuated with a record number of tower cranes, with important housing and commercial projects taking shape across the city.
The Q1 2025 RLB Crane Index shows there's 19 tower cranes currently in operation across Adelaide, with nine cranes for residential projects, six for commercial, two for health builds, with one for a hotel and another for a mixed-use site at Bowden.
The half-yearly Crane Index shows Adelaide's activation is almost twice as high now as it was during 2020 and 2021.
New cranes were added to housing projects supported by the Malinauskas Labor Government, including the Junction Housing development at Tonsley, as well as Uniting on Second and Lot 6003 at Bowden.
Cranes were also added to the new Women's & Children's Hospital site and Modbury Hospital Carpark build.
The large number of cranes correlates with national construction activity. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, construction activity across Australia increased by 2.7 per cent with residential activity also up by 2.7 per cent.
One of the cranes currently in operation is helping construct the East Rundle development in Kent Town.
The 6-storey housing development has celebrated its topping-out, with the structural phase now complete on the 47-apartment development being delivered by Palumbo.
Even more cranes will be spotted across the city over the near future, with important developments to get underway at places like Prospect, Seaton, Lot Fourteen and Festival Plaza.
As put by Nick Champion
A crane is a symbol of progress.
Wherever you look across our city, there's more construction activity going on than ever before
It's exciting to see so many projects taking shape and the Crane Index demonstrates this Government is helping get more projects off the ground.
Strategic infill development will continue to play an important role in increasing the housing supply in our city and we have a number of exiting projects that will kick off on the future that will see even more cranes in Adelaide's skyline.
As put by Liam Golding, UDIA SA Chief Executive
Cranes in the sky are a key indicator of a growing economy – one that needs workers.
Whether the cranes are for well-located new housing that will be coming to market very soon or for infrastructure, industry and commerce that will build a stronger South Australia, each crane is a positive signal that Adelaide is finally growing up.
Ultimately, the housing crisis we are currently experiencing can only be solved by increasing the supply of new houses – multi-storey apartments have a big role to play in delivering that supply.
As put by Daniel Palumbo, Palumbo Group
We are extremely proud to reach the topping out milestone for the East Rundle Kent Town Apartment project.
The Palumbo team along with our industry professionals and skilled trades people are making significant contributions to our state economy but more importantly we are delivering on new housing supply to assist with the current housing crisis.
We look forward to this project coming to fruition, residents moving in to their new apartments and future project announcements in line with the governments Housing Roadmap.
