Work starts on apartments at Campbell 5

Campbell’s $200 million mixed-use precinct is one step closer to fruition with construction commencing on the first apartment development this week.

ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr and SHL Development’s chief operating officer Terry Shaw turned the first sod on Sunday at a ceremony attended by some of the Campbell 5’s future residents.

Saint-Germain, the precinct’s first apartment complex, will comprise 47 spacious two and three-bedroom apartments.

“The purchasers are vastly owner-occupiers and Saint-Germain is proving there’s a strong demand for well appointed, generously sized apartments with lots of storage,” Mr Shaw says.

Mr Barr says these new homes will create jobs and attract new residents to the precinct, “some of whom will be downsizing from other parts of Campbell into the new development, others will come from across the city, across the country and possibly across the world”.

“I can see a future where there will be a light rail service along Constitution Avenue, it will be connected to a significant public transport infrastructure that will link major employment and retail and commercial destinations within our city,” he says.

Greenwich Park, the precinct’s second apartment complex, will comprise 205 apartments and 1800 square metres of commercial space. Construction is due to start before the end of the year.

SHL has partnered with local construction firm Chase Building Group in the delivery of these two projects. Mr Shaw says the Campbell 5 precinct will inject 1300 direct jobs into the local economy and 1200 indirect jobs throughout the course of its development.

SHL bought the five sites on the corner of Anzac Parade and Constitution Avenue for $64 million last year. Upon completion, the 6.4-hectare precinct will be home to about 520 new dwellings.

The precinct’s new park will be open to the public next year and Mr Shaw says open spaces are a vital part of Campbell 5’s design.

“With any medium to high-density development you need to have a high-quality public realm, and this has got it in spades,” Mr Shaw says.