Historic home to make way for Griffith apartment development

The property on 52 Leichhardt Street is expected to be razed and turned into a four-storey apartment building, with work on the project expected to start in late 2021.

A development application has yet to be submitted to the ACT government by developers Morris Property Group, but is expected to be finalised in coming weeks.

The new development will have 27 apartments built on the Griffith site, along with a basement car park with 53 spaces.

A final make-up of apartments has yet to be determined, but developers have said there will be up to four three-bedroom units, 16 two-bedroom units and seven one-bedroom units.

Morris Property Group senior development manager Geordie Edwards said the project came amid an apartment boom in the suburb.

"The transformative project at 52 Leichhardt Street is expected to inject $16 million into the local economy, with the ACT continuing to be one of the most stable and reliable economies in the country after a difficult 2020," he said.

"Highly respected Canberra architects Cox have been retained to design [the development], responding to strong demand for residential housing in the inner south."

The more than 1200-square-metre site currently has a decades-old red brick home on the land, along with multiple sheds.

The now-unoccupied property was sold earlier this year in March for $2.25 million.

A Morris spokesman said the property on the existing site did not have heritage value and was earmarked for demolition to make way for the apartment building.

"The property is overgrown with weeds and some poor quality trees," the spokesman said.

"A tree assessment has been undertaken with five regulated trees on site recommended for removal.

"It is proposed to keep ... two oak trees along the Leichhardt Street verge to maintain the leafy appeal of the Leichhardt Street streetscape."

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Community consultation has been carried out ahead of the development application being submitted for the territory government.

Consultations included four meetings, held during the beginning of May with nearby residents.

A key issue raised during the meetings was the height of the new development.

The top level of the building is proposed to be set back to "soften the building scale from street level".

"Overlooking of neighbouring properties was raised for discussion," the spokesman said.

"[This] is being addressed by Cox with architecturally designed screening to the building facade."

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