The proposed development aims to support a living, working and student population of 45,000. Images: Peet Limited.
The University of Canberra has finalised the sale of 15 hectares of land on the Bruce campus to a developer to build 1600 townhouses and apartments.
The land, valued at $66 million, has been sold to real estate developer Peet Limited, with the option to acquire an additional 6.2 hectares of land from UC, enabling a further 1000 residences to be built. The developer has the option to purchase the additional land between 1 January 2027 and 31 December 2030.
In total, Peet estimates that the project will have a gross sales value of more than $2.3 billion.
“The property will provide Peet with a long-term presence in the Belconnen town centre growth corridor of Canberra,” Peet managing director and CEO Brendan Gore said.
According to Peet, planning for the development of the property is already well-advanced, and the company expects to commence sales in 2025.
The project forms part of the university’s campus master plan to “develop an integrated and connected community where scholars, students and the public intermingle”.
The development will incorporate a number of sustainability initiatives in line with the university’s commitment to sustainability, including 7-8 star buildings, solar passive design, solar street lighting and infrastructure, rainwater harvesting, electric vehicle charging stations and a central waste management facility.
The development aims to connect the UC campus to the surrounding suburbs and increase the number of Canberrans living within the university community.
UC vice-chancellor Professor Paddy Nixon said the proposed residential development will create a more natural connection between the university, Lake Ginninderra and the Belconnen town centre.
“It will bring to life our campus master plan vision for the delivery of a residential development that will connect our campus to the surrounding suburbs, and with it, significantly increase the number of Canberrans living their educated life as part of our community,” he said.
The campus master plan outlines a vision for a campus supporting a living, working and student population of 45,000 comprising 12,000 residents, 15,000 students, and an enterprise and business population of more than 18,000.
Under the plan, the development will be complemented by a series of curated retail and hospitality nodes and pop-up retail and hospitality activities.
“A new local centre with core retail services and destination stores will support the proposed light rail stop and enterprise neighbourhood,” the master plan says.
The university also plans to expand its cultural offering on campus and provide more night-based activities to encourage community engagement.
The ambitious 20-year plan sets out a $5 billion investment in stages across all aspects of the university and the broader community to connect the university’s hubs with Belconnen and the Canberra region. This includes a light rail line linking the city and CIT to Belconnen town centre via the university.
A new sports precinct includes plans for an arena, multi-court sports centre and continuation of high-performance sport and associated research that would position UC as the leading sports university in Australia.
The university’s other hubs, such as health, aged care, early learning, retail and housing, will also deliver several on-campus services to the Belconnen and wider Canberra region.
Professor Nixon said the acquisition will enable the university to plan for the long-term investments needed to develop the Bruce campus and expand its teaching and research capabilities.
“We are making good progress on many other strategic campus development projects, including the development of the business case for our Sports Hub 2 campus development, which we hope will be the next major infrastructure project realised on our campus,” he said.
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