Doma was chosen from five companies, shortlisted to two. It beat a consortium made up of the Coda Property Group, Lendlease and Canberra Contractors for the right to develop the 16ha site.

The government has provided no detail about Doma's plans, nor the price it will pay, saying negotiations are still in train.

Doma head Jure Domazet confirmed recycled timber supplier Thor's Hammer would vacate the brickworks. His plans included restaurants, cafes, art and craft spaces, a "community men's shed" and a cycling hub with bike repair shop. There would be some retail, but no supermarket and no hotel. Homes would be built around the brickworks grounds.

The former brick quarry would become "Quarry Park" with a small lake, and the railway remnants behind the site bordering the golf course would be open to the public.

"This is the one we really wanted," Mr Domazet said. "This will be the the best residential development in Canberra. It's a fantastic piece of land, and the existing heritage buildings just have character that you can't replicate elsewhere in Canberra."

The brickworks and the Kingston powerhouse were the only two industrial buildings of their significance in the urban area, and lent themselves to "really interesting public spaces", he said.

He has taken on a team of architects - Sydney's SJB, Canberra's Stewart, Melbourne's Cumulus Studio, and Melbourne's Six Degrees - with the aim of ensuring "an eclectic mix of architects and no homogeneity through the site".

Doma had three government bids on the go at once - the Kingston Arts Precinct and the Dickson Motor Registry, as well as the brickworks.

It was beaten by Geocon for the arts precinct, but won the Dickson Motor Registry bid. It will build an office block for 1000 public servants, as well as 280 apartments, and office and retail space in Dickson. The price to be paid for that site, like the brickworks, remains under negotiation.

Doma previously developed the Hotel Realm precinct in Barton and a number of buildings on the Kingston foreshore. It is developing a carpark in Dickson, with a Coles supermarket, a project with a patchy planning history.

Last year, it bought the former CSIRO headquarters on the edge of Mount Ainslie, where it plans to build an apartment block.

Urban Renewal Minister Mick Gentleman said Doma's Yarralumla proposal was for "a garden city that meets the requirements of 380 residential dwellings in a mix of stand-alone houses, terraces, and apartments designed to harmonise with the character of the site and existing Yarralumla streetscapes". He provided no further detail about precisely what would be built.

Plans for the brickworks have been the subject of much controversy in recent years.

In early 2015, the proposal was for 1800 homes in a large suburban development leading from the brickworks towards Adelaide Avenue and the entrance to Government House, including eight-storey buildings.

The design attracted vehement opposition and was effectively killed off after the National Capital Authority raised concerns.

The government drastically reduced the development site from 49 ha to 16 ha and building heights to a maximum of three storeys, and set up a panel to consult.

Deputy chairwoman of the Inner South Canberra Community Council Marea Fatseas, who has signed a confidentiality agreement as a member of the community panel, said she was happy with community input so far, with the number of homes, and with the focus on the brickworks.

"We'll be very interested to see what the estate development plan will look like," she said. "In the long run, it really depends on what the detailed proposals are that are put up, because at the moment they're more like concept plans. The detail will come now, in the next stage."