7 minute read
Land for builders
Googong Closer than you think
Googong is a whole new self-contained township located just 16km from Parliament House in Canberra, on Old Cooma Road NSW. It will eventually be home to around 18,000 people in 6,500 homes, and will have all the amenity you would expect of such a large town including schools, shops, employment and more.
1600 lots have been released and sold since the first releases in 2012 at around 300 lots per year. and already several thousand people call Googong home. Googong continues to release lots for sale to their 16 guild builders, as well as to the wider public and individual builders, at a rate or around 300 lots pa – and will continue to do so for the next 15 years.
So if you don’t already have this township on your radar – perhaps it’s worth a closer look.
Googong rates favourably with other land development projects in the region. Prices are highly competitive and up to $170,000 less than a comparable lot in the ACT (Throsby Nov 2017); while lot sizes have a higher average than the ACT and range from 350m2 up to 1200m2 (average 500m2).
While Googong is in NSW, travel times are nonetheless favourable – Google Maps indicate that Googong is just 26 minutes to Canberra’s CBD, while Denman Prospect is 18 minutes, Ginninderry is 20 minutes, and Taylor is a 25 minute drive.
Investment and growth in the township is accelerating. A $30m upgrade in the local road networks is about to commence, to improve connections from the township into Queanbeyan and Jerrabomberra, and the wider region.
The first village centre will open around March 2018, with a 1100m2 IGA, allied health services including a GP and chemist, specialty retail, a butcher, vet, gym, café and bar, childcare centre, community centre, and more.
The Anglican School Googong takes students from Early Learning to year seven, and will increase each year through to year 12. A site for a public primary school has been gifted to NSW Government, and a public secondary school site has been identified.
A development application is currently before QueanbeyanPalerang Regional Council for the next 1700 lots in Googong Central. This retail precinct will include a mix of detached lots, apartments and townhouses, as well as around 20,000m2 of retail and commercial space (around the size of Manuka Shops).
The town is being developed by Googong Township Pty Ltd (GTPL) in a joint venture partnership between two of Australia’s leading land development companies, Peet Limited and Mirvac.
Contact Sharon Feist for details, email enquiries@googong.net or phone 1300 446 646.
Denman Prospect Work at Denman Prospect development steams ahead
Capital Airport Group’s Denman Prospect development is fast taking shape.
The first stage of the subdivision, which includes over 400 single residential blocks, is now complete. Of these, 80 per cent have sold. Homes continue to be built and residents are moving in.
“Clearly what we have seen is a very strong level of market interest,” Denman Prospect, Director Project Delivery Nick McDonald Crowley said.
To help ensure each home is distinct from its neighbours, a display village featuring 14 bespoke homes opened at the top of Wyndham Avenue in October.
Following the success of Stage One, Capital Airport Group is now developing Stage Two of Denman Prospect. Civil infrastructure development for 34 multi-unit sites and more than 600 residential blocks is well under way. The first two substages (Mountain View and Denman Heights) are due for completion by early to mid-2018.
In November asphalt was being laid at the northern end of the Mountain View blocks, which have the most elevated views. Street lights have also been installed.
Preliminary design work for a third stage of Denman Prospect, Denman Prospect North, is due to commence soon. Denman Prospect North will comprise over 1,000 separate title housing blocks.
Facilities for current and prospective residents are also being built, with Denman Village Shops, which is located on the corner of Felstead Vista and Holborow Avenue, set to open in late 2018. Civil work for the 3,000m2 centre is complete and while building continues, a search for tenants for the supermarket, gym, medical centre and food outlets is underway. Denman Prospect is located directly adjacent to Stromlo Forest Park which by the end of 2019 will have its own Olympic sized swimming pool.
Denman Prospect is the first entire suburb in Australia to commit to Homes for Homes, a social enterprise created by The Big Issue. The initiative involves 0.1 per cent of the sale of each block in Denman Prospect being donated towards helping to address homelessness in Canberra. Capital Airport Group is strongly encouraging other developers and the ACT Government to take on this social initiative with their future projects and land releases.
With the recently published Housing Choices Discussion Paper by the ACT Government, understanding how we can better meet the housing needs of Canberrans, has never been more relevant.
As noted by Mick Gentleman Minister for Planning and Land Management November 2017
“…there is no longer the presumption that everyone aspires to a large suburban block with a garden. People want different forms of housing in the suburbs, as well as in centres and mixed use areas. This includes town houses, terrace houses, secondary dwellings and apartments as well as a continuing demand for detached homes. While this is being driven to an extent by the younger generation, it is also being sought by older residents who do not want to leave the suburb they may have lived in for 50 years, but no longer want – or are able – to live in a big home that can be better used by a larger family. This desire for housing choice is complementing the drive for Canberra to be sustainable, compact and well-connected.”
Ginninderry is a community with a difference, designed to cater to Canberra’s needs as a growing city. It will extend across the ACT/NSW border* to the west of Belconnen and is being developed in joint venture The Suburban Land Agency on behalf of the Australian Capital Territory and Riverview Developments Pty Ltd (Riverview) on behalf of Corkhill Brothers Pty Ltd (Corkhill).
The community will eventually have around 11,500 homes, of which 6,500 will be in the ACT. Subject to approvals the project will be developed at a rate of 300 to 400 dwelling per annum over the next 30 to 40 years representing approximately a third of the ACT’s land supply projections over this time period.
Ginninderry has been rated as a 6 Star Green Star Community by the Green Building Council of Australia – a testament to its liveability, contribution to the local economy, governance, environment, design and innovation. Planned facilities include new schools, shops, halls, childcare centres and medical centres. Just a few minutes’ drive from Belconnen Town Centre, Ginninderry
Ginninderry Housing choices for the future – sustainable, compact and well connected
offers the chance to build a rewarding lifestyle in a spectacular location adjacent to the Murrumbidgee River corridor.
Stage 1 of Ginninderry’s first neighbourhood in the suburb of Strathnairn was released in April 2017, with approximately 200 blocks and packages sold to date. The Estate Development Plan (EDP) Stage 2 (for 780 dwellings) has been submitted to EPSD for agency review and will include a mix of single residential blocks, terrace blocks, Flexi-living series’ packages and multi unit blocks. Subject to approvals the first release of land from stage 2 is scheduled for mid-2018.
Ginninderry’s Project Director Stephen Harding says,
“Importantly Ginninderry is addressing the shortage of medium density housing, known as the “missing middle” by offering a genuine range of housing options. Insights into housing preferences, reveal that 75% of our primary audience prefer free single detached standing homes, but when price is factored in, free-standing homes townhouses, compact blocks, terraces and apartments are still appealing options. Research findings also highlight that 71% of potential buyers have a budget of $400,000–$600, 000.”
Ginninderry is working to provide a variety of block types to promote housing diversity and housing choice. Affordability is being addressed on various levels:
Flexi-living Series – a suite of architecturally designed homes with eligibility criteria
Working with community housing groups to look at equity share schemes
Introducing more blocks to allow for studio above garage to allow for inter-generational living Various block types to meet different house and land price points Implementing design controls to ensure quality streetscapes and the overall capital value of a neighbourhood are retained.
