The Canberra City Residents Association, meanwhile, has also promised to keep developer Nik Bulum to his word and ensure he does not build high-rise apartments on the site but something "positive" for the community.

However, there has also been sadness expressed for the loss of another Canberra institution, with people taking to Facebook to mourn the eventual loss of the City Bowling Club, its members moving from the Braddon site to new facilities at Gungahlin in two years.

Alexander Bunday said on Facebook the City Bowling Club was unpretentious and attracted a cross-section of the community.

"It is where I had my first beer, my first parma, and the place I one day hoped to marry in. It was a place where a bloke could find solace from the harsh realities of the world," he wrote.

Three members of Gayle Brown's family have served as club president, while her father, Jack Smith, was bowls captain, secretary and head coach.

"It is so sad. So much of our life revolved around 'the club'," she wrote.

Mr Bulum has promised not to build high-rise apartments on the block. He plans to transform it into a community hub, with proposals including keeping one green and a function room and adding a restaurant, bar, milk bar, day spa, art gallery and boutique hotel on the site.

North Canberra Community Council chairman Mike Hettinger said the proposal on face value sounded positive, but he hoped Mr Bulum would meet the council to explain the detail. He said the council was never afraid to object to a proposal it believed would be detrimental to the community, but he believed this might be the exception.

"I think the nice thing is he is thinking beyond, 'Let's see how many people we can pack into one area'," Mr Hettinger said.

"From that respect, it's a breath of fresh air and we hope that he will talk to us more about it. It's rare to find a developer thinking like this."

Canberra City Residents Association president Joshua Ceramidas said he had some concerns about the loss of a community asset in the city but was waiting to see more definite plans.

"There is an opportunity for Nik, I take him at his word, to build something productive and which is a positive contribution to the city. I do have a latent concern that the bowling club does serve a particular community interest, notwithstanding patronage is down," he said.

Mr Ceramidas said it was still important to cater for a broad age range of residents in the city, not just young singles and couples but also older people, retiring and downsizing.

The Ainslie Group sold the club site to Mr Bulum. It confirmed the facility was operating on a non-concessional lease and therefore had no obligation to make a payment to the government.

The group's chief executive officer Simon Patterson said he wanted a "seamless transition" of players from Braddon to Gungahlin and expected that to take the full two years, during which the club would stay open in Braddon.

"We're not going to put up fences and bolt the doors," he said.

A spokeswoman for the Environment and Planning Directorate said the club was on land zoned CZ6 - leisure and accommodation - which allowed a broad range of uses including commercial accommodation, community use, drinking establishment, shops and tourist facilities.

Opposition planning spokesman Alistair Coe said he hoped a future development on the club site "could be both viable and complementary to the area".