The Australian Defence College site in Weston Creek has been listed on the market and the sale has already attracted interest from property syndicates.
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The college, which sits on a nine-hectare site, is in a long-term 100 per cent lease to the Department of Defence until June 2023.
The Kirkpatrick Street site is owned by Centuria Property Funds and it houses both the Centre for Defence and Strategic Studies and the Australian Command and Staff College. While it is a long-term lease investment, the site has also been assessed for future residential development potential.
The site for sale includes five commercial buildings purpose-built to accommodate the education facility. Lecture theatres, meeting rooms, a library, office space, a dining room and a gymnasium also form part of the lettable area.
The information memorandum for the site says the property provides potential investors with an estimated fully-leased net income of $2,997,042 a year, and fixed annual rent increases of 3 per cent.
The investment site is being sold through CBRE and Knight Frank by way of an expression of interest process closing on October 17.
CBRE ACT managing director Andrew Stewart said there had already been strong interest since the site hit the market, including syndicates and wealthy private buyers from outside the ACT.
''I think we're happy with the inquiries we've received so far,'' Mr Stewart said.
He said the site would not be suitable for pure developers as it would be nine years before any redevelopment was possible, unless an agreement with Defence was made to release some of the land.
The college does not take up the entire nine-hectare site.
As part of the sales process, Centuria engaged a team to investigate the potential urban and property development opportunities on the site once the tenancy ended.
These included using the existing buildings for other college educational uses or for conversion to a hotel or residential use.
The memorandum says an initial assessment was done to determine the suitability of the present buildings to conversion to residential accommodation.
''Our architects have confirmed that the two teaching wings could be readily convertible to residential, hotel or aged-care units with a central corridor circulation,'' it said.
''Over time a hotel or serviced apartments may be developed in conjunction with residential housing and apartments as part of a mixed use development when demand for such product grows.''
The land is currently identified as national land and as such any plans would have to be examined by the National Capital Authority.
