Five years ago, software engineer Alex Eckermann was one of about 26,000 South Australians to pack up and move interstate.

In his case it was Melbourne — anecdotally a rite of passage for many young Adelaideans — as he joined around 70,000 fellow Australians in the annual migration to the southeastern state.

While some chase nightlife, look for love, or move to study, for Alex it was the lure of work.

For a while, he enjoyed the bigger city and the faster pace of life.

“I spent five years working in Melbourne, undertaking a couple of leases in apartments and sharing with housemates,” he says.

“It was fun and I enjoyed the different lifestyle and opportunities in Melbourne.”

But as he began thinking about putting down roots and gaining a foothold in the property market, Alex found himself reconsidering Adelaide, where opportunities to buy seemed more within reach.

“Eventually I got to the point where I was considering what my options were past renting,” he says.

“Melbourne had a lot of options to buy apartments in the metropolitan area but land, new builds, or anything outside of an apartment ended up being in new development areas far outside the city.

“There’s no way I could get a land title or a new build anywhere within a 30-plus minute commute in Melbourne.”

On his regular trips home, flying into Adelaide, Alex began noticing the city’s changing skyline.

What he once described as a sleepy city was beginning to wake up, he says.

“I would fly over to see family a few times a year and there was always a new building in the city,” he says.

“There is a sense that Adelaide is waking up. It’s been the sleepy big country town for a while.”

Alex’s experience reflects a broader shift in interstate migration patterns, with movement stabilising post‑pandemic and the one-way flow towards the eastern states easing.

ABS data shows interstate migration remains around 20 per cent below pre‑COVID levels. Locally, South Australia’s net losses have shrunk by around 45 per cent, while Victoria’s long-standing pull has flipped from net gains to net losses.

And nothing, Alex says, encapsulates that change better than Southwark Grounds.

For starters, it is a bold new development just a stone’s throw from the CBD.

Secondly, to his surprise, it was within his price range.

“I didn’t think that I was going to be able to afford to buy in that development (Southwark Grounds),” he says.

“Out of curiosity I had a look, which is when I found the HomeSeekerSA townhouses.

“I soon realised not only was it possible, that I was eligible for a home through HomeSeekerSA and support from HomeStart.”

HomeSeekerSA is a state government initiative designed to increase access to housing for eligible South Australians based on a range of criteria, including income. HomeStart Finance also provides shared equity, and low-deposit home loans for people meeting similar criteria.

The stars aligned when Alex was one of 17 successful applicants in a ballot to become a founding resident of Southwark Grounds, the Renewal SA-led redevelopment of the former West End Brewery site on the edge of the city.

Alex’s new home is one of three affordable townhouses being built as part of Southwark Grounds’ first stage.

The double storey homes are located on the western edge of the development on Holland Street, just a short walk from Bloom Restaurant and the Karrawirra Parri (River Torrens).

Architecturally designed by Studio Nine and built by boutique Adelaide builder Blag Homes, the contemporary brown brick homes combine industrial materials throwing back to the site’s brewery past with contemporary, open-plan ground floor living, with bicycle parking just inside the front door and a studio-style upstairs bedroom.

The homes were listed on HomeSeekerSA starting at $629,000, including shared equity through HomeStart Finance to help keep prices lower.

“I feel very fortunate and grateful to have had the opportunity that HomeSeekerSA offers,” he says.

“By ensuring that a development like Southwark Grounds offers first home buyers, typically younger South Australians, the opportunity to access land and a home in such a prime location is an investment into the financial futures of those buyers.

“For me, this is certainty, financial security, and the beginning of a new chapter in my journey.”

It’s been seven months since Alex was told he was successful in his application to own a home at Southwark Grounds, and he says it is only now starting to feel real.

As the co-founder of a startup, he’s accustomed to long, busy days and often works wherever he has a laptop and an internet connection, so any time offline is appreciated.

“Outside of work I enjoy being outside as much as I can to contrast the long hours I spend in front of a screen,” he says.

“One of the things I am looking forward to at Southwark will be being able to walk and cycle anywhere I need to go. I'll be able to leave the screen and in a few moments be at the Torrens riverside among the trees and into the parklands.”

To maximise living space and keep it within reach, Alex’s home won’t have a parking space, but he doesn’t plan on driving, instead embracing a lifestyle supported by Southwark Grounds’ connection to public transport and pathways.

He says it’s a rare location in Adelaide that has access to multiple forms of public transport.

“For going to the office in the city I could grab a tram or bus from Port Road, a train from Bowden, walk or cycle along the Torrens,” he says.

“I honestly didn’t think that was possible in Adelaide. For my work and where I need to get around, I don’t imagine I’ll need to have a car whilst living there.”

Construction of Alex’s and the other 16 Founder’s Row townhouses began in December last year and is on track for completion by Christmas.

Recently, he was able to meet his future neighbours as part of a joint site walkthrough and networking event for early residents, and is already planning social events for when everyone moves in.

“I’m looking forward to getting to know my new next-door neighbours over their board game nights,” he says.

Alex and his neighbours will be the first to call Southwark Grounds home and will be followed by thousands more over the next 10 years as development progresses, delivering at least 1,700 homes.

Looking to the future, he’s hoping the neighbourhood will evolve to suit the lifestyle he’s looking for, provided there are quality lattes and his favourite McLaren Vale or Limestone Coast red wines nearby.

“My ideal place to live has a great small coffee shop with outside seating that I can walk to on a Saturday morning and sit, drink coffee and catch up with neighbours and friends,” he says.

“Followed by an evening at a wine bar.

“What more could you ask for?”

Alex’s journey is likely to be one of many similar stories to come from Southwark Grounds, with 20 per cent of all homes set to meet HomeSeekerSA’s affordability criteria over the project’s lifetime.

“My only request to developers and Renewal SA is that, wherever possible, to continue these opportunities for first homebuyers and young South Australians,” he says.

“Make as many as you possibly can, we need it for the young South Australians and the future of the state.”