ACT government sells two prime Gungahlin sites for more than $7 million

The ACT government’s Suburban Land Agency exchanged contracts worth more than $7 million for two Gungahlin sites at auction on Wednesday.

The two sites, located in Gungahlin’s town centre, sold under the hammer at the Ainslie Football Club for $3.8 million and $3.75 million. Both sites have CZ5 zoning, meaning they will include retail or commercial. 

They both have an affordable dwelling requirement of five.

The $3.8 million block was the first to go under the hammer, with four bidders vying for the site.

It has a total area size of 3035 square metres and was sold with a maximum dwelling requirement of 58.

Bidding for the site started at $1 million and moved in increments of $500,000 until the price reached $2.5 million. From this point, bids ranged from $100,000 to $300,000.

At $3 million, auctioneer Richard Keeley declared the site on the market. Two bidders remained in the race and mostly bid in increments of $50,000.

The buyer registered under the name Camilleri Pty. Ltd. The block backs onto Camilleri Way.

• Related: Close to $5 million of land exchanged at first Ginninderry auction 
• Related: ACT government sells more than $17 million worth of land at multi-unit auction
• Related: Multi-unit blocks go under the hammer at ACT government auction 

The auction for the second site was much quicker, with bidding kicking off at $1 million.

The 2705-square-metre site had two bidders who bid in two increments of $500,000, and then seven increments of $250,000.

The buyers of the $3.75 million block, registered under R&R Medical Practice, purchased the site in front in 2014 for $3.5 million. The site in front is set to be a medical centre. 

There will be commercial on the ground floor and residential on the top. This site has a maximum dwelling requirement of 46.

Suburban Land Agency assistant director Julia Forner said the agency was “very pleased with the results”.

“It shows the strength of the market when it’s the right product and it’s in the right place,” she said.

“Obviously, the Gungahlin Town Centre is a growth region and you could directly attribute that to the light rail.”

There are set to be a number of multi-unit land auctions over the coming months.

Next month, five former public housing blocks in Griffith, Narrabundah and Lyons will be going under the hammer.

“The agents are telling us there are plenty of people looking at those sites,” said Ms Forner.

Last week it was announced two community sites in Charnwood and Amaroo would also be auctioned next month.

The Charnwood site has the potential for residential although this is not a requirement.

Ms Former said a multi-unit site in Coombs is set to come to market in the coming months. According to the ACT government’s Indicative Land Release Program 2018-19, an RZ5 zoned block with a maximum dwelling requirement of 100 will be released.

The land release program also slates the release of the former Macarthur House site in Lyneham with a maximum dwelling requirement of 530.