Key slabs of land will be up for grabs along Northbourne Avenue within the next 18 months, with plans to knock down two public housing blocks to be lodged within the next fortnight.
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The run-down Northbourne Flats in Turner and Braddon will be demolished and redeveloped into residential housing, as the ACT government offloads its ageing public housing infrastructure.
![The Northbourne Flats on Northbourne Avenue, being demolished to make way for redevelopment. Photo: Richard Briggs The Northbourne Flats on Northbourne Avenue, being demolished to make way for redevelopment. Photo: Richard Briggs](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-ct-migration/9b9a03a9-c42f-4c09-a877-c6159528e8e4/r0_0_2000_1287_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
While the demolition dates are yet to be confirmed, nearby residents have been told the land will be sold in 2017-18 and the 255 flats will be knocked down before the land is sold. The flats are still occupied.
A decision on who will bear the cost of the demolition has not been made yet either, a spokeswoman from the Land Development Agency confirmed.
![Melbourne architect, John Wardle, principal of John Wardle Architects, outside the Northbourne Flats in 2011 with an illustration of his team's design for the site. Photo: Graham Tidy Melbourne architect, John Wardle, principal of John Wardle Architects, outside the Northbourne Flats in 2011 with an illustration of his team's design for the site. Photo: Graham Tidy](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-ct-migration/fdedcc31-701c-438e-9d3a-15e2f35b2e71/r0_0_2000_1189_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
"This [decision] will be influenced by the timing of the demolition, which will occur after the successful relocation of current tenants to new and existing replacement dwellings - currently programmed to occur in 2017/18," she said.
The ACT government ran a high-profile competition to redesign the Northbourne Avenue flats in 2011, which was won with much fanfare by John Wardle architects.
An ACT government leaflet said copies of the winning designs would be handed to the eventual buyers to "influence" their designs.
The public will also have the chance to have their say on the design of the sites, as the buyers will have to submit a development application before construction.
The flats sit in the precinct that will be managed by the newly created City Renewal Authority.
The LDA spokeswoman said the method of sale and how the previous masterplan will influence the redevelopment of the site are currently being considered.