This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
DEVELOPERS Mirvac and Peet have divested a retail development site situated in the heart of their Googong community, near the border of ACT and NSW, for $8.75 million to the Stevens Group.
Located 16 kilometres south-east of Parliament House and eight kilometres south of Queanbeyan, the 1.184-hectare site sold at $739 per sqm and has B2 local centre zoning with a 2:1 FSR that will allow for the delivery of fuel, fast food, childcare and large format retail.
The Colliers team of James Wilson, Ben Wilkinson and Matthew Winter managed the expressions of interest campaign, on behalf of Mirvac and Peet’s Googong Township Pty Ltd (GTPL), which attracted both 25 local and interstate developers in the data room 10 offers, which Wilson said reinforced the market’s appetite for retail development sites of this nature.
“Stevens Group’s experience in developing premium retail sites and their ability to partner with GTPL, whilst delivering a community-based outcome, led to them securing the purchase of site,” Wilson said.
Retail amenity on the site will be supported by a MTA population that is forecast to grow at an average annual rate of 6.1% through to 2035.
“The Canberra market has outperformed national counterparts with strong net absorption through government/private sector. Retail development sites within underserviced catchments such as Googong continue to command strong interest from developers, with MTA retail spending projected to increase at an average annual growth rate of 11.2%,” Winter said.
The Googong Retail Development Site will form part of the greater Googong Town Centre, which will include a Coles, a medical centre, gym, library, community centre and an architecturally designed pub, function and entertainment facility.
Total construction costs for the Googong Town Centre development, which includes the main centre, the retail development site, and the Googong Hotel, are expected to exceed $82 million. Development across all sites is estimated to create approximately 345 construction jobs and 640 permanent jobs upon completion.
Construction is expected to commence later this year while the Googong Town Centre is anticipated to open in 2025.
