A 24-storey marker building is one of four towers proposed for the site of the former Woden Tradies club.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
The Geocon development, called Wova, is to be built on the 10,194 square-metre block. It is the second application the developers have lodged this month. Last week, the group applied for a 233-suite hotel in Canberra's CBD.
Geocon bought the site of the Woden Tradies Club in 2017 for $16 million. The existing hotel building and club will be demolished.
Its development application says the $400 million mixed-use development would be built in three stages and see a 16-storey and a 10-storey tower would join the "marker building". There would be a total of 798 apartments across the four buildings.
The marker building planned for the corner of Launceston Street and Melrose Drive would be 72 metres high, excluding parapets and plants. The 10-storey building would front Launceston Street and be about 30 metres, and the two 16 storey buildings would be just under 50 metres each.
The project also proposes retail and commercial use on the ground level, more than 1000 car spaces and 100 bike spaces.
The transformation of the Tradies site will be Geocon's second project in the Woden town centre.
Work on the Zapari and Geocon's 18 and 26-storey Grand Central Towers has begun. The $200 million joint venture is being built on the site of the former Medibank building and alongside the Woden bus interchange.
Geocon managing director Nick Georgalis said the application for Wova was one of the largest to be submitted to the ACT government.
“This landmark mixed-use development will energise the town centre, creating new jobs and lifestyle opportunities while supporting existing businesses and community groups," Mr Georgalis said.
“In the 1970s, Woden was booming. It was a thriving hub of public service and retail activity. Since then, Woden has lagged seriously behind other town centres like Belconnen and Gungahlin. "
Once approved, stage one is expected to be released to the market later this year, and construction will begin in 2019.
Last year, The Canberra Times reported residents were concerned about overshadowing and the scale of the development.
“Through our extensive community consultation we know some people have issues with height and overshadowing, but we also know from the research more than three-quarters of Canberrans agree that density makes sense in Canberra's town centres rather than in the suburbs, as long as it is designed by world-leading architects rather than ad hoc second-rate developments," Mr Georgalis said.
“Concerns about height and overshadowing next to town centres is like buying a place near an airport then complaining about aircraft noise.”
Submissions close on the development application on May 31.
