Initial plans for redevelopment of former Braddon public housing site revealed

Preliminary plans for the redevelopment of the former Northbourne Flats site in Braddon have been revealed. JWLand has started its pre-development application community consultation for the Braddon site. Plans show the site could have up to eight residential buildings, as well as a commercial building. JWLand purchased the 15,607-square-metre site in July for $28 million. The site went to auction in June but did not attract any bids from the two registered parties and JWLand purchased it after the auction. It was sold with an indicative yield of 602 units. The site sits between the Rex Hotel and Haig Park. JWLand national head of development Michael Prendergast said the company was at the early stages in the design process. He said the consultation was about showing the community what the entire site would look like when it is completed. "We're currently holding our first community consultation session where we are engaging with the community to hear what draws them to the area and what they most like about Braddon and what they want to see on the site," he said. "So whilst we do have a vision of what the site will contain, it's still early days of the design process and we are just really gathering feedback from the surrounding residents on the site moving forward." Mr Prendergast said they hoped to have a development application ready to be submitted by the end of the year. The development will be designed by Cox Architecture. According to the plans, 24 iterations for the proposed eight buildings had been explored. The Braddon former public housing site was previously put up for sale in 2018 but was controversially pulled from the market last year after a reserve price could not be met. The site was set to be sold along with another former public housing block on Northbourne Avenue in Turner via a tender process but negotiations between the ACT government and its preferred tender failed. READ MORE: The Braddon and Turner sites previously sat together in the government's asset recycling initiative. A Suburban Land Agency spokesman told The Canberra Times in May it was easier to separate them as they were no longer part of the initiative. JWLand had tendered for the dual sites when they came to market in 2018. Mr Prendergast said the site was a prime one to develop. "You cannot get more synonymous with Canberra than Northbourne Avenue. It's a highly active avenue within Canberra so the site is in a location we are comfortable to develop," he said. Mr Prendergast said they want to develop a "precinct-style" site, much like JWLand's other sites such as Campbell 5 and Founders Lane, also in Braddon. The community consultation started on Tuesday September 22 and will run until November 17.