Renew Adelaide
Renew Adelaide's latest economic impact findings suggest that vacant commercial space can be more than an empty tenancy. It can be a pathway to business growth, jobs and longer-term economic activity.
What can an empty shopfront be worth to Adelaide? Quite a lot.
Renew Adelaide's latest Economic Impact Report found that the organisation generated $5.6 million in economic impact between FY2024 and FY2026, delivering a 13.7:1 return on investment.
Put simply, that equates to $13.70 in economic impact for every $1 invested.
But the more interesting story sits behind the headline figure.
Since 2010, Renew Adelaide has supported more than 340 businesses to establish across South Australia, connecting emerging ventures with vacant and underutilised commercial spaces. The City of Adelaide was an early supporter, backing Renew Adelaide as a new way to unlock opportunity from vacant spaces. That willingness to think differently, continued through AEDA, reflects a city prepared to embrace new ideas and help them grow into lasting economic impact.
The model allows businesses to test an idea, build a customer base and establish themselves in a real commercial environment before committing to a long-term lease.
The latest results suggest that the pathway can translate into lasting business activity.
In FY2025–26, 21 businesses launched through the program, with 80 percent progressing to commercial leases. Together, these businesses contributed to 147 direct jobs and a further 432 associated jobs across the state.
For property owners and precincts, the potential value goes beyond simply filling a vacant tenancy.
A new business can bring customers to an area, introduce a different offer and create activity that supports the broader precinct. It can also become a future commercial tenant.
On average, more than half of Renew Adelaide's ventures become rent-paying tenants.
There is also strong demand for these pathways, with more than 1,600 expressions of interest from businesses seeking access to a Renew Adelaide space.
The results offer a useful case study in what can happen when vacant commercial space is used to reduce some of the barriers facing emerging businesses.
And they raise a broader question for Adelaide:
How much untapped economic value sits in the city's vacant and underutilised commercial spaces?
Economic growth isn't only driven by major projects and large-scale investment. It can also come from creating the conditions for smaller businesses and new ideas to get started, test their potential and grow.
An empty shopfront may be a vacant asset.
With the right business, support and conditions, it can become a launchpad for investment, employment and economic activity.
The real question isn't what an empty shopfront is worth.
It's what Adelaide could gain by putting more of them to work.
Realising that potential takes collaboration. Renew Adelaide’s impact is supported by a network of strategic partners who share a commitment to creating opportunities for businesses, activating vacant spaces and contributing to Adelaide’s economic future.
Explore our Strategic Partnerships Program.