A multi-use development with up to 1200 apartments across four buildings is planned to take over a car park in Canberra's city centre.
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As reported in The Canberra Times in March, Barry Morris' Morris Property Group signed a deal to buy the block from Mirvac, which bought the site from the ACT government in a joint venture with Leightons for $93 million in 2007.
The Morris group purchase settled for $85 million on Monday.
The estimated $500 million development, designed by Sydney-based architects FJMT Studio, will be built in four stages, with the first to focus on the section bounded by Vernon Circle, Edinburgh Avenue and an extension to Knowles Place, Mr Morris said.
However, a works approval application, similar to a development application, is yet to be submitted to the National Capital Authority for the development on Section 100, formerly known as Block 12 Section 63.
A works approval was lodged on Monday for a temporary two-storey building, which Mr Morris said would be used as a display suite.
The first stage of the development will be broken down into four parts at eight storeys high, each with about 90 units. There will also be 500 square metres of retail space, public car park for 750 cars plus parking for the associated units.
The undeveloped 2.6-hectare site has been used as a car park for a decade.
"There is a requirement under the deed of agreement with the territory to provide 750 public available parking spaces," Mr Morris said.
"So across the first stage, there will be about 1300 car spaces in total.
"A requirement of purchasing the site is that the first stage must include the public car parking space and then we’ll roll the other stages out."
Mr Morris said parking would be across three levels; ground, and basement level one and two.
Also part of the agreement, Morris Property Group must extend Edinburgh Avenue to Vernon Circle, the same way Constitutional Avenue meets with Vernon Circle on the opposite side.
The extension would divide the car park, separating a smaller part that Mr Morris said was owned by the territory. In the 2018 budget, the government announced it would release the block which would then make way for another 350 apartments as part of the City to the Lake project.
Mr Morris said the extension would involve bringing services to the site, including sewer, stormwater and fire services.
The second stage will focus on the corner of Edinburgh Avenue and London Circuit and will see an 18-storey building with 350 units and 700 square metres of retail space. It will also have three levels of basement car parking just for residents.
Mr Morris said the third and fourth stages had the potential to be either residential, with about 250 units in each, or commercial office buildings of about 20,000 square metres.
He said the buildings in stages three and four had the larger retail space and hoped to include a 1500-square-metre supermarket with other retail and restaurants facing London Circuit.
"If it was all residential there will be 1200 apartments but if we went commercial and apartments it would be about 700 apartments and 40,000 square metres of commercial office space."
Mr Morris said a hotel was not on the cards.
Work on the site is expected to start early next year. Mr Morris said the first stage was "large scale" and would take a minimum of two years to build, and depending on the third and fourth stage could be about five to six years until completion.
