Developers to Watch: Projects and Players Shaping 2026

As featured in The Urban Developer

Developers weathered a volatile 2025 marked by ongoing high construction costs and market uncertainty, maintaining momentum despite challenging conditions.

As the market begins to stabilise, many expect that resilience to carry into the year ahead as attention turns to the next wave of major projects.

As some developers pivot toward higher-density formats, others are expanding into new markets. Regardless, most see 2026 as a year of renewed opportunity.

South Australian developer Otello had a strong year in 2025, securing approval for its co-developed 10-storey Adelaide CBD apartment project with Fortis in December.

Otello managing director Daniel Harris said that 2026 marks a “pivotal chapter” for Otello, with multiple landmark projects reaching completion and several new precinct-shaping developments breaking ground.

The company’s active pipeline now exceeds 500 apartments, representing an end value of more than $700 million, he said.

In the first half of 2026, the final stage of Otello’s Treno in Mile End, making a major milestone for the developer as its first building of this scale and typology mix.

Other major projects for Otello next year include Muse in Bowden, a nine-storey mixed-use of 35 apartments, the three-storey Tonsley Precinct mixed-use development, and a development of specialist disability accommodation apartments on Marion Road in Sturt.

Its Kent Town project will be the home of Otello HQ and deliver a wellness club.

Otello will also be breaking ground on 15 luxury apartments in Unley, 100 apartments in Bowden, a project which uses mass timber construction, with a multi-level wellness hub.

“Adelaide is entering a pivotal phase in its evolution, with growing demand for design-led, mixed-use living that reflects the way people increasingly want to live, work, and connect,” Harris said.

“We expect 2026 to be the year that this shift becomes mainstream.”