PORT Adelaide will embark on an ambitious property development project next to its Alberton Oval home with the aim of securing the club's financial future.
The club has acquired 26 residential properties over the past three years with the support of private investors and the AFL, which now makes up a parcel of land spanning almost 20,000 square metres between Alberton Oval and Port Road.
To be known as Alberton Square, the redevelopment project will include commercial, residential, health and wellness, and community facilities.
Port Adelaide chairman David Koch said the project marked a major change in the club's off-field strategy, from debt reduction to diversifying the Power's revenue streams.
"The club had existing ownership of 4000 square metres of land directly opposite the Port Club, currently utilised for car parking," Koch explained.
"The vision was to progressively acquire surrounding properties over a 5-10-year period, which has progressed much quicker than our initial projections.
"Several developments over this period increased the significance and ambition of this project, with it quickly expanding to encompass both blocks through to Port Road, creating an almost 20,000 square metre prime development site, owned by the club."
Koch said Port Adelaide had previously owned eight of the 26 properties, indicating that the club's leaders had seen the benefits of expanding Port's Alberton footprint.
“However, when the club was required to separate into AFL and SANFL entities as a condition of its AFL licence in 1994, those assets were divided between the Power and the Magpies.
“Between 1997 and 2004, despite on-field success, both Port Adelaide clubs operated on fragile business models and were periodically forced to liquidate assets to sustain day-to-day operations. That experience reinforced the long-term value of investing in property.
“The concept of Alberton Square is a vision that has been developed to future-proof Port Adelaide for generations to come, underpin our football programs, enhance the local community and the club’s role in it, and ensure Alberton is our home for at least the next 150 years."
The club will now begin the formal planning application process through the SA Government. To proceed as planned, the development will require some of the parcel of land to be rezoned.
The Power's development at Alberton Oval will continue, with the fourth stage currently underway, including new AFLW changerooms and administration facilities, as well as a new grandstand on the eastern side of the oval that will accommodate 6500 people.
The announcement comes as Port embarks on an era of on-field renewal following the departure of long-term senior coach Ken Hinkley and club champion Travis Boak at the end of 2025.
New senior coach Josh Carr will take the reins after an apprenticeship under Hinkley and he has flagged changes that he hopes will help the Power take the elusive step that results in its second AFL premiership.
"It's more about an expectation about the way the game should be played and what big games look like, especially around what finals football looks like," Carr said. "So it's not really about me and what I did. It's just about what I think wins big games and how finals should be played."
The club will hold information sessions on the Alberton Square redevelopment project for club members on Monday, March 16 and for the local community on Monday, March 23.
