The first phase of the City to the Lake development will get under way next week, with public consultation opening on the development of a 3.4 hectare section of land on Constitution Avenue.
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The development of the land known as Parkes Section 3, which is opposite the Canberra Institute of Technology's Reid campus and currently used as a gravel car park, will tie in with the $42 million redevelopment of Constitution Avenue.
It will also provide a new frontage to Commonwealth Park and form the base of the Parliamentary Triangle.
“[The development] will be predominantly residential but along Constitution Avenue there will be retail and commercial opportunities where appropriate,” Paul Lewis, director of urban renewal with the ACT Land Development Agency, said.
“As we get closer to release to market we will test what the demand is but along the ground floor you can imagine coffee shops, restaurants, cafes, bars.”
Andrew Barr, the ACT Minister for Economic Development, said the development “will help revitalise Constitution Avenue and will be a destination of choice for residents, businesses and visitors.
“The development will realise an important component of the City to the Lake project and assist in transforming Canberra’s city into a thriving hub,” Mr Barr said.
The first release of land in the development is expected to be in 2015-16 and include 200 to 300 apartments, with the development of the site to be phased over a number of years to meet market demand.
The development, which will have a height limit of 25 metres, is next to where the City to the Lake project has proposed the City Stadium would be located, something Mr Lewis said the Land Development Agency would consider down the track.
“As the City to the Lake development refines itself and there's more understanding about what's needed from the stadium and [Civic] pool perspective then we'll look at how and if we need to accommodate anything on Parkes Section 3,” Mr Lewis said.
“At this stage we’re working on replacement parking and also providing the opportunity for restaurants and coffee shops and other supporting commercial activity which will also support the broader City to Lake project.”
The site has about 1000 parking spaces, but the Land Development Agency says surveys have shown that it only has an average utilisation rate of about 40 per cent, and those spaces will be replaced in the development.
A traffic and replacement parking plan will be developed to minimise disruption during the construction phase of the project and a portion of surface car park would be retained during the initial phase.
at 5.30pm, another on Saturday, June 28, at 10am and the final one on Tuesday, July 1, at 11am.
"Subject to the outcome of those and what we receive, we’ll have a look to see whether we’ll need to make any refinements to the proposal and then ... work with our consultants to do detailed concept designs for an estate development plan, which we expect to be lodging later this calendar year," Mr Lewis said.
More information is available from the LDA website www.lda.act.gov.au
