The ACT government is set to auction the large car park site at the Kingston Shops following the approval of planning changes for the area.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
It is the first step in plans to revitalise the shopping precinct, which was the first commercial centre built in Canberra in the 1920s.
The Land Development Agency will sell the 9348-square-metre Eyre Street car park site as a mixed use opportunity for a development of up to six storeys.
The site includes a full line supermarket which the government has already allocated to Supabarn.
Sales documents show that the successful purchaser can build a development that includes a minimum of 100 dwellings and at least 1000-square-metres of retail in addition to the supermarket.
The ACT government approved a territory plan variation for the site and the surrounding Kingston Shops earlier this year.
Planning Minister Simon Corbell reduced the future height of development at the existing shops site from eight storeys to six.
The aim of the change to the territory plan is to encourage the revitalisation of the shopping centre.
Jones Lang LaSalle ACT managing director Andrew Balzanelli said the site would attract a lot of interest as it was a landmark location in Kingston.
He said it would link the shops area to the foreshore once constructed.
"It's been in the making since Kingston was first developed; it's long overdue," Mr Balzanelli said.
Colliers International ACT's Michael Heather said the inclusion of the supermarket provider made it an attractive proposition to buyers as there was a guaranteed tenant and rent.
And he said the proximity to the vibrant and cosmopolitan Kingston Foreshore would also add an element of interest.
"I would think this would bring out anyone who's been looking at developing in Canberra," Mr Heather said.
"We'd be expecting pretty strong competition for it."
The site will be auctioned by the Land Development Agency at the end of November.
A spokesman for the agency said the site had been scheduled for release this year under the ACT government's Indicative Land Release Program.
He said the redevelopment would revitalise the inner south "village style" precinct for years to come.
