Geocon Reveals 558-Apartment Canberra ‘Urban Village’

Developer Geocon is forging ahead with a residential precinct in an eclectic inner-Canberra suburb just two months after acquiring the megasite.

The developer finalised the deal for the 10,633sq m plot, a “highly visible gateway location” at the intersection of Northbourne and Wakefield avenues at Braddon, in March this year.  

According to CoreLogic’s RP Data, the site at 220 Northbourne Avenue was acquired for $59.4 million.

A nine-storey commercial building from 1968 on site was demolished in 2022.

The former owner, the Sarris family-owned Evri Group, had planned to turn the site into a build-to-rent development, filing plans in 2022 for a 447-unit development. 

Its FK Architecture-designed plans were initially rejected by the ACT Planning Authority but after winning approval Evri decided to sell, citing feasibility issues. 

New owner Geocon went back to the drawing board and has now proposed a four-building “urban village” of 558 apartments. 

▲ A rendering of the Northbourne Avenue proposal by Geocon.

The apartment configurations span studio to three bedrooms. Two pedestrian through-site links are planned, according to the development outcomes report by Knight Frank Town Planning filed as part of the application.

There is a mix of small-scale commercial spaces at the ground levels of the four to 14-storey buildings as part of the scheme.

The Cox Architecture-designed buildings, Geocon told the ACT Government in its proposal that is now on exhibition, would surround a central plaza with landscaped courtyards and rooftop gardens.

Geocon said it aligned with the Territory Government’s goals to create “vibrant sustainable communities” delivering a mix of apartment typologies and flexible commercial spaces. 

▲ A rendering of the Cox Architecture designed proposal.

The project also supported Braddon’s “ongoing transformation,” it said, as older lowrise structures were “progressively replaced by modern, mixed-use developments” that offer “urban activation”.

Geocon’s project is on notification until June 13. 

Northbourne Avenue is a major urban renewal corridor with several mixed-use projects under way in the vicinity, including JW Land’s 500-plus apartment project.

Elsewhere in Braddon, which has been described by the AT Government as an “eclectic” suburb that is evolving from its light industrial past, an eight-storey shoptop project on Lonsdale Street has been proposed, as has a hotel and residential project at the former Braddon Bowls Club.