Johnny Roso's Art Group has been forced to abandon plans for a supermarket on a site between Northbourne Avenue and Dooring Street that will now house 409 apartments.
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Documents released on the weekend showed the plans for a 1500 square metre supermarket on the block, along with other retail and commercial space, met strong resistance from government agencies.
But the estate development plan suggests commercial and shopping space is still proposed in later stages of the Soho development, further north on the site, which stretches up Northbourne as far as Morphett Street, Dickson.
A summary of government agency comments on the plan from October 2017 shows concern not only about retail and supermarket development, but also tree removal and the big increase in traffic on Dooring Street, with 3000 cars a day to use the street, which will be the entryway to the new apartment buildings.
On the supermarket proposal, the government's territory plan officials said any significant retail development there would have implications for group and local shopping centres and the commercial nodes planned around light rail stops.
In response, the developer emphasised the lack of convenience shopping within reasonable walking distance, with an overall plan for as many as 1000 new dwellings.
"Unless the Territory Plan section wishes for the occupants of these 1000 dwellings to drive to the shops, they should be supportive of convenience shopping being provided on site in a manner that is consistent with the Territory Plan," the developer said, also pointing to the government's own vision for an "urban village" on the site. "Concerns about the potential viability of the surrounding group and local centres is misplaced given the influx of dwellings anticipated for the corridor and the Inner North area."
Project director Brett Smith said a supermarket was off the agenda, but the group still wanted commercial and retail along Northbourne. The block includes restoration of four former public housing flats, and the estate development plan shows a possible hotel between the flats. But Mr Smith said the hotel was "purely conceptual" and "not necessarily something that we will pursue". Instead, restaurants and bars were likely.
The government's conservator expressed concern about trees, saying it was clear that most of the trees of all sizes, regulated and non-regulated, would need to be removed and the conservator could not support the removal of trees whose significance was in their maturity, landscape, aesthetic and environmental contribution to the streetscape. Removing them would fragment and diminish the landscape.
In response, the developer said the trees had to be removed for new services, "to facilitate urban infill" and "an acceptable planning outcome".
"The ACT Government has sold this site as a redevelopment opportunity to increase population density along the light rail corridor," the developer responded, while pointing out that the law considered only individual trees and not their collective value.
The National Capital Authority has made it clear that it "will not support any dilution of the number of new trees and path improvements".
The ACT government's strategic planning division pointed out that the proposed 19 metre high seven and eight storey buildings on Dooring Street did not meet current height limits (12 metres). The government's new plan for Northbourne, out for comment until April 27, proposes an 18 metre, six-storey limit.
The Transport and City Services directorate said the development would impact significantly on the stormwater system, with no clear picture of how a 100-year flood would be managed. It is not clear whether the directorate's concerns have been addressed, but in its October response, the developer says the portion of the site vulnerable to flooding had been deferred to Stage 3 of development.
The directorate also raised concerns about the traffic impact, especially on Dooring Street, which would have more than 3000 cars a day, turning it from an "access" road to a "major collector".
Mr Smith said development in the corridor would generate "a lot of traffic", but the developer was working to the government's requirements."We're required to address the rules which we're doing - which means a lot of cars," he said.
"There's going to be a lot of density in the corridor and a lot of traffic but I think that's what the light rail is supposed to alleviate."
Mr Smith said the proposal had taken longer than intended, but he hoped building could begin next year, with development applications submitted for other blocks in the meantime. The Art Group would also upgrade the Hope Street playground as part of the deal, but no detail had been worked out yet.
