So far, only 500 people have moved into Denman Prospect, the new suburb in the Molonglo Valley, but it already has a gourmet supermarket and a $6 million park and playground, thanks to its developers, the Snow family.
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Denman Prospect director Nick McDonald-Crowley said the suburb would eventually be home to more than 8000 residents by the late 2020s but the Snow family's Capital Airport Group had wasted no time getting infrastructure up and running.
The multi-million Ridgeline Park and playground has opened to the public, with play equipment imported from Germany and the Snow family's signature public art on display.
Mr McDonald-Crowley said Ridgeline Park was part of the developer's dream to "create a suburb that broke away from the stereotype of Canberra’s newest suburbs — row upon row of same-same houses with inadequate infrastructure and little to no public green spaces".
The play equipment, reminiscent of that at the National Arboretum, was already a hit with local families - and others who travelled to Denman Prospect just to use it, such as Kate Hanley, of Waramanga, who visited often with her children Oscar, two, and Lucy, five months.
"It's something different, it's not your typical playground," Mrs Hanley said.
"There's a little bit of risk taking which is good for little adventurers like this one.
"It's also good for adults. We were here Saturday and the number of adults who were going down the slide saying, 'This is really good'."
The playground was designed by Cia Landscape and Colours and Calibre Consulting, taking advantage of stunning views from the hilltop vantage, and brought to life by RAM Constructions.
"Getting the equipment was actually quite challenging, it's all imported from Germany and there are big lead times on its production. They actually ordered it going on nine months in advance of it going into place," he said.
Mr McDonald-Crowley was reluctant to talk money, such was the Snow family's reluctance to do so, but eventually did confirm that more than $6 million had been spent on the park and playground.
"We do work for an organisation totally focused on quality. So the brief was, 'Don't worry about the budget, just worry about the quality'," he said.
"That's how we've gone about Ridgeline Park. Also the shops. You look at the shops and you can tell a lot of money has gone into them and it shows. Attention to detail is really good."
Molonglo's first supermarket has also opened at the achitect-designed Denman Prospect shops.
Other tenants will be moving in in the coming months including a cafe, beautician, dentist, medical centre, gym and childcare centre. A pub is also planned.
"We've got most of the shops leased, it's just a process of getting the fit-outs completed," Mr McDonald-Crowley said.
"Obviously, the main motivation was getting the supermarket up and operating."
Dubbo father-of-four Steve Smith is running the supermarket, called the Farm IGA, opening on January 16, admitting it was a gamble with so much of Denman Prospect still to develop . But with no shops at either Coombs or Wright to date, it was a risk worth taking.
"It's going extremely well,'' Mr Smith said. "The people of Coombs and Wright have been crying out for a supermarket for a long time and they're still saying it's a little bit far for them, but it's still closer than Cooleman Court. And the feedback about the shop has been absolutely fantastic."
The 1000 square metre supermarket has a sushi bar and bakery.
It is employing 45 people after starting with 21 less than a month ago.
"I just didn't know how busy we were going to be. Last week 10 more on and then we were busy again so I put 10 more on, which is good," he said.
Public art is also scattered throughout Denman Prospect including a striking yellow kinetic sculpture on Wyndham Avenue by Phil Price, who also designed a similar, but much bigger piece at the Canberra airport.
The public art includes a large red piece outside the supermarket, which was commissioned through a competition for students in the sculpture department at the ANU School of Art.
The winner was Naomi Taylor Royds who was inspired by the bush capital to come up with her piece, Eucalyptus Triad. It was a thrill to see her work in such a public place after graduating in 2017.
"It's exciting and I feel very privileged," she said. "As a relatively new graduate and emerging artist, it's a wonderful opportunity."
