Braddon is on the rise.
A striking, six-storey, mixed-use building with loft apartments will be built on Lonsdale Street to attract young city dwellers.
Architect Rodney Moss said the ''funky'' two-storey apartments were for people wanting to live amid the action of the city. It's the first of several redevelopments that Mr Moss predicts will make Lonsdale Street one of Canberra's most interesting precincts.
On the site of Gregory's Ford, which is moving to Mitchell, the $13.7 million retail, commercial and residential building reflects Braddon's change from car yards to a cosmopolitan area, which planners describe as Manuka with units on top.
A planning study of the Braddon commercial area last year revealed a livelier precinct with bars and cafes and recommended raising building heights from two to six storeys so as to encourage residential development.
Building heights can now be either four or six storeys, depending on the location. Canberra developer Stan Waldren, who lodged the Lonsdale Street proposal, would not comment on retail and commercial tenants until plans were approved.
Mr Moss, of Cox Humphries Moss, the firm that designed Canberra Centre's shopping mall extensions, said he believed improved pedestrian access from Lonsdale Street to Bunda Street would add appeal for younger people who wanted to be in the thick of city activity.
Braddon Chamber of Commerce spokesman Peter Conway said more redevelopment would flow from the planning study's recommendations.
Some developers wanted to go to 10 storeys, but he said that would spoil Braddon's appeal to small businesses and residents.
The Waldren development's ground-floor retail shopfronts and commercial and residential lobbies are designed to encourage interaction between retailers, customers, office workers and residents at street level.
Three levels of commercial offices form the middle of the development, with two levels of 54 apartments on top, offering one-, two- and three-bedroom accommodation.
The architects say the loft apartment approach provides a strong street character and opportunity for a high-level apartment lifestyle, not otherwise available with traditional single-level units.
''A series of double-volume boxes [two-storeys] face the street frontage rather than traditional single-level flats. These large boxes have the ability to open up, thus allowing the facades to animate with the climate conditions.''
Two-and-a-half basement levels will provide 374 car parks. Mr Moss said mixed-use developments were becoming Canberra's catchcry.
''All European cities have those retail, residential and commercial buildings and that's what makes the cities really work.''
Ground-floor awnings will run the length of the building frontage in Lonsdale Street.