The owners of Canberra Centre have scaled back their plans to transform their Cooyong Street outdoor car park, proposing a "substantially smaller" development and a larger pedestrian precinct in their latest vision for the prime city block.
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Queensland Investment Corporation has also seemingly ditched plans to include private housing in the mixed-use development, according to documents published as part of preliminary public consultation on the proposal.
The ACT Planning and Land Authority has started so-called pre-DA consultation on QIC's fourth plan for the prominent site since 2011.
A summary of the revised proposal, prepared by consultants Purdon Planning, stated the development would be spread across five separate buildings between Genge Street and Scotts Crossing.
The development would include offices, shops, a hotel, serviced apartments and basement car parking, the summary revealed.
The hotel would be located near the corner of Genge and Narellan streets.
There was no mention of private apartments, which have been a feature of QIC's previous plans for the site.
Under the new scheme, Scotts Crossing and Narellan Street would be closed to vehicle traffic to create a piazza and large pedestrian space.
There would be "boutique retailing" on the ground floor of the precinct, which would focus on "market-style food".
The documents do not provide specific detail about the development, such as the height of the buildings, the amount of office space or the number of serviced apartments.
The Canberra Times has contacted Purdon Planning for comment.
The consultants do state the latest plan sets out a "total development" which is "substantially smaller" than what had been approved in 2017.
The 2017 plan earmarked a 10-storey office tower, a 12-storey, 180-room hotel and a 248-unit apartment complex for the site.
QIC first won government approval in 2011 to construct a mixed-use development on the Cooyong Street block, but the proposal never got off the ground.
It lodged revised plans in 2014, which included a pedestrian and car bridge across Scotts Crossing.
That idea has since been shelved.
The Queensland government-owned investment body's failure to redevelop the site has prompted accusations that it has been "land banking" the prized slice of inner-city property.
Purdon Planning's summary document talked up the potential benefits of the project.
"The project will generate substantial employment during and post the construction phase, create a new vibrant pedestrian focused city precinct, and will support other businesses in the local area," the document stated.
The proposal would be submitted as an amendment to the approved 2017 plan.
A formal development application would be lodged with the ACT Planning and Land Authority after the proposal had been scrutinised by the National Capital Design Review Panel.
The development, should it eventuate, would contribute to the major transformation of Cooyong Street.
JWLand has started work on the third stage of its Founders Lane precinct, while one block south, Geocon is in the early stages of construction on its Reid development.