Sensational-Adelaide.com

Chinatown Food Hall revamp to bring new life to whole precinct
50 minutes ago
RICHARD EVANS The Advertiser

AN Adelaide commercial property mogul says a $2 million revamp of a food hall in the heart of the CBD could act as a catalyst for the regeneration of the entire surrounding precinct.

Irena Zhang hopes the winter refurbishment of her Chinatown Food Plaza on Moonta St will lead to a facelift for one of the city’s most iconic cultural sectors.

“It could be the start of a new Chinatown,” said the former president of Chinatown Adelaide, art gallery owner and current board member of the Adelaide Festival Centre Trust.

“We will rename the hall as Chinatown Plaza and it will be a mix of hospitality, retail and tourism. We want a lot more retail shops to come in, gift shops and fashion.”

Ms Zhang said the extensive refurbishment, due to start within two months, will see the dark 1200sqm space change beyond recognition with the creation of up to eight unique and contemporary dining/retail environments set to position it alongside dining and shopping experiences in Myer or David Jones.

The hall, the more westerly and smaller of Chinatown’s two food courts, currently has one large seating area with shops, all food, arranged around the perimeter.

This setup will completely change, according to Gerald Matthews of Matthews Architects, the firm behind the refit.

“The shops will be internalised,” he said. “The concept is intended to fill the gap between low-cost, fast-paced eating and higher-end restaurant dining.”

Mr Matthews said the two- to three-month construction period would bring something of modern China to the CBD, away from the more standard influence of imperial China.

“There will be some external changes, we want to have a level of identity. It’s got to be authentic, it has to be China speaking,” he said.

“What defines a modern city is a Chinatown — San Francisco, Melbourne and London all have them and they are all different.”

The desire to create a new experience has been in planning for a couple of years said Ms Zhang, who bought the food hall in 2001.

“I had been thinking about it for a while already. Competition (from other restaurants) coming in has been a part. I want to bring in mixed use,” she said.

“There could be a downtown Shanghai and an indoor garden. We have to change as a business and lead.”

Creating a vibrancy familiar to Asian markets in Melbourne and Sydney is fundamental to the success of the new venture said Ms Zhang, who will be looking to extend the opening hours from 11am to 4pm to about 10pm most nights.

Ms Zhang said repainting the walkways between the overhead carparks and generally tidying up the market is also imperative to moving forward.

The new hall will increase seating capacity to 340 chairs with pot plants, benches and alcove dining fresh introductions together with a new ceiling replete with hanging baskets and lanterns.

Inspire Real Estate will be leading the charge to bring in new retail and food tenants.

thecityguy wrote:This is good news, however the out door china town strip is the part that really needs attention. There needs to be more restaurants spilling out into the strip and more greenery, kinda like the Sydney china town


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monotonehell wrote:While this is most welcome as the place is well overdue a refit, there is no where near enough seating in that render.

monotonehell wrote:While this is most welcome as the place is well overdue a refit, there is no where near enough seating in that render.

Architect man wrote:What defines a modern city is a Chinatown

claybro wrote:please don't let them turn this into some kind of generic shopping mall style food venue. Im not a fan of the renders, not grungy enough. On my recent short stay in Adelaide, a companion from Perth commented that the highlight of Adelaide was hands down the central market precinct. "very Melbourne" were the words...as if that is something to aspire to? , but I get it. this area is the jewel of Adelaide...effortlessly grungy. Oh and the rooftop bar at 2KW was also a thumbs up (rooftops are all the rage in Perth now) except for the secret squirrel style entry via 2 lifts!

Ho Really wrote:Don't tell me that if I want to visit Chinatown and get that Chinatown experience I will need to travel to China, etc. Don't sanitise it or it will lose its Chinatown appeal.

Cheers