A prominent commercial property has hit the market on one of Adelaide’s most popular beachside shopping strips, which is in the final stages of a controversial revamp.

The multistorey Glenelg property at 115–123 Jetty Rd is on a 1346sqm block with dual frontage, about 500m from Moseley Square and the beach.

Generating a stable net income of $581,086 per year, it has several tenants, including Harris Real Estate, Anytime Fitness, The Salvation Army and Amplified Accounting.

It has a 34-space rooftop car park but could be further developed, with its zoning allowing for up to six levels.

The property hits the market as Holdfast Bay council’s multimillion-dollar redevelopment of Glenelg’s premier strip is due to be finished in the second half of 2026.

115-123 Jetty Rd, Glenelg.

115-123 Jetty Rd, Glenelg.

The Transforming Jetty Road Glenelg project started in August last year, closed the road to vehicle traffic and carparking until the end of the year, and shrunk its pedestrian walkways as workers laid more than 76,000 new pavers and 1726 tonnes asphalt.

While major construction work was fast tracked to align with the temporary suspension of tram services as part of the State Government’s Tram Grade Separation Project, many businesses struggled through the period, with some even closing.

Despite the issues on the strip, the commercial building is expected to be a lucrative investment as population growth and infill housing continue to drive demand for well-located retail and office space.

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Recent sales at Norwood and Goodwood highlight strong investor demand for high street properties, with both selling on yields of 3.85 per cent and 3.82 per cent respectively.

JLL SA managing director Ben Parkinson, who is selling the Glenelg property, said investor demand for high street assets was continuing to strengthen as residential density increased across Adelaide’s inner-suburban corridors.

“What we’re seeing on The Parade, and expect on Jetty Road, is the same story: high street property with the right catchment is pricing sharper than ever, whether that’s the ground-floor retail or the office space above it,” said Mr Parkinson, who is selling the property with Tom Love.

115-123 Jetty Rd, Glenelg.

115-123 Jetty Rd, Glenelg.

“As more apartment projects land on these strips, the space beneath and around them becomes harder to replace and more tightly held.”

Glenelg’s Jetty Rd is benefiting from more residents moving into surrounding areas, strong hospitality demand and increasing amenity.

Mr Love said population growth and residential densification were reshaping Adelaide’s high street investment markets.

“Population growth is always a catalyst for innovation, infrastructure and ultimately liveability,” Mr Love said.

“It creates inner-suburban density, village vibrancy, higher suburban amenity, and momentum for public transport, walking and cycling corridors, which all flow directly into demand for the retail, office and hospitality tenancies on those high streets.”

“Investors are backing high streets, across both office and retail because the population growth underpinning them is stable.”

Expressions of interest for the property close on October 1.

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Mortgage lender Rate is stepping further into digital asset territory with the launch of RateFi, a nationwide mortgage product that allows borrowers to use verified cryptocurrency holdings toward mortgage qualification without liquidating those assets.

The Chicago-based lender announced Tuesday that RateFi is fully operational within its digital mortgage platform and available under its non-QM (non-qualified mortgage) guidelines.

The move reflects a broader shift in financial services as lenders experiment with integrating digital assets into traditional underwriting while remaining within established compliance frameworks.

How RateFi works

Under the program, qualified borrowers can use verified cryptocurrency as reserves and, in some cases, as qualifying income. Down payments and closing costs must still be paid in U.S. dollars, though borrowers may convert crypto to meet those requirements.

Rate said the program includes standard anti-money-laundering and know-your-customer checks. It operates within the company’s existing non-QM infrastructure rather than through conforming channels backed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, which do not currently provide broad guidance allowing cryptocurrency to count as qualifying income in standard agency loans.

“Digital assets are real assets, yet mortgage lending has treated them as invisible,” Kate Amor, EVP and head of enterprise products at Rate, said in a statement. “RateFi changes that. We built this product to apply common-sense underwriting to a modern financial reality, allowing qualified borrowers to use their crypto without selling it, without gimmicks, and without stepping outside established lending standards.”

Amor continued that RateFi represents the first phase of a broader digital asset lending strategy that the company plans to expand over time.

Rate President Shant Banosian emphasized that the product runs within Rate’s existing underwriting and pricing systems rather than creating a separate crypto lending channel.

“Crypto lending gets a lot of headlines,” said Banosian. “But this business is about closing loans consistently, compliantly and at scale.”

A response to growing crypto wealth

Industry research cited by Rate suggests more than 10 percent of Americans hold digital assets, with some maintaining six- and seven-figure portfolios. As digital wealth grows, lenders are beginning to adapt to borrowers who may prefer not to liquidate long-term holdings to qualify for a mortgage.

Historically, most lenders have required borrowers to convert cryptocurrency into cash before it can be counted toward mortgage qualification. That process can trigger capital gains taxes, lock in losses during market downturns or reduce exposure to assets borrowers believe will appreciate.

RateFi seeks to reduce that friction by recognizing verified digital holdings as part of a borrower’s financial profile without requiring full liquidation.

The product is not entirely without precedent. Other lenders, including Newrez, have introduced programs that allow cryptocurrency to factor into qualification, though most remain limited to non-QM or portfolio channels rather than conforming agency loans.

Why non-QM matters

The non-QM designation is key.

Because government-sponsored enterprises do not broadly recognize crypto as qualifying income, lenders offering these programs must operate outside conforming guidelines. Non-QM loans allow more flexible underwriting but are typically funded through private capital markets rather than sold to the GSEs.

That structure limits scale compared to agency lending, but it also provides a testing ground for innovation.

For Rate, the strategy appears incremental rather than disruptive.

Borrowers still make down payments in dollars. Loans are underwritten using traditional risk frameworks. Crypto is treated primarily as reserves or supplemental income, not as a new payment rail.

Why lenders are cautious about stablecoins

RateFi’s eligibility includes certain stablecoins, which are digital assets designed to maintain a 1:1 value with the U.S. dollar. Stablecoins such as USDC or USDT aim to reduce volatility compared to assets like Bitcoin or Ethereum.

Even so, lenders remain cautious.

Stablecoins can “de-peg” during periods of market stress. Liquidity depends on issuer reserves and the mechanisms for redeeming tokens, and exchanges can halt withdrawals. Regulatory oversight of digital assets continues to evolve at both the federal and state levels.

Mortgage underwriting also requires clear documentation of the source of funds and asset seasoning. Blockchain-based holdings may introduce additional verification steps, including confirming wallet ownership, validating exchange accounts and reviewing transaction history.

Those realities help explain why programs like RateFi require that funds for down payments and closing costs be converted into U.S. dollars before settlement.

What this means for agents and brokers

For now, RateFi appears to target a specific borrower segment: crypto-heavy, self-employed or nontraditional applicants who may not fit neatly within agency underwriting boxes.

But the symbolic significance may be larger.

As digital assets move deeper into mainstream finance — and as younger, crypto-forward buyers age into peak homebuying years — lenders face increasing pressure to modernize balance sheet analysis that was built around W-2 income and brokerage statements.

The larger strategic question is whether products like RateFi remain niche offerings within non-QM channels or represent early steps toward broader normalization of digital assets in housing finance.

Meaningful expansion would likely require clearer guidance from federal regulators or eventual recognition by the GSEs. Until then, crypto-recognition programs will remain largely within portfolio and private-market structures.

For agents and brokers, the immediate impact may be limited but noteworthy. 

Buyers with significant digital holdings may have more options to qualify without restructuring their portfolios. At the same time, these loans remain specialized and subject to stricter documentation and pricing dynamics than conventional mortgages.

For Rate, the bet is that a growing cohort of borrowers wants to build real estate wealth without exiting digital asset positions, and that providing a compliant bridge between those two worlds creates both competitive differentiation and new loan volume.

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