Kingston Foreshore land sells for $14 million at auction

The largest block of land released so far in the Kingston Foreshore zone has sold at auction for $14 million.

The 13,086-square-metre site was the largest block the Land Development Agency has auctioned in almost a year.

There were 10 registered bidders for the block.

It sold to Construction Control chairman and director John Gasson for $14 million at the auction on Tuesday morning.

The land is located between the First Edition residential precinct and the Causeway and has no direct waterfront access.

The mixed use site can be developed for up to 240 dwellings and will enable the creation of a new precinct for the foreshore area.

CBRE ACT managing director Andrew Stewart said there had been some queries during the sales campaign about the off-site works required and the remediation of the site.

“If you take those things into account it’s a great result,” he said.

“The amount of people who registered and number of individual bids shows that Kingston Foreshore still has a strong following.”

The Land Development Agency sold two blocks of land for a combined $14.3 million at the most recent auction of foreshore land in June last year.

Land Development Agency chief executive David Dawes said in February the agency had decided to sell the 13,086-square-metre block in its entirety to enable the creation of a precinct.

He said under the mixed use zoning a different type of development could be created than what had been built previously in Kingston.

Likewise, developing the land as a single parcel made compliance with the environmental managing plan easier, Mr Dawes said.

The ACT government will release further sites at the Kingston Foreshore next year.

The next site to be released is on the peninsula close to Jerrabomberra Creek, across the lake from the bustling harbour and restaurant precinct.

It is due to go on the market in the first half of 2016.