22 Rutledge Street Queanbeyan, NSW 2620

Ray White Commercial Canberra is pleased to offer, on behalf of The Village Building Co., the whole-of-site sale of Rutledge Street, Queanbeyan: a consolidated city-centre landholding with development consent for a landmark shop-top housing precinct.

The Southern Regional Planning Panel unanimously approved the project on 4 November 2024 (PPSSTH-224, DA.2023.0044). The consent covers two 10-storey buildings with 178 apartments, 16 ground-floor commercial premises and two levels of basement parking. Two heritage buildings, the Old Fire Station and Dutton's Cottage, are retained on the Crawford Street frontage.

The planning risk has been taken out. An incoming purchaser acquires a fully designed, fully documented scheme on the largest mixed-use site in Queanbeyan's city centre, next to Council's new civic precinct.

Sites of this size with a consent of this scale rarely come to market in the Canberra region. This one offers:

A consent already in hand. More than two years of design, consultation and assessment have been completed, including a deferred-determination process with further traffic, heritage and landscape work. Buyers of the site can move straight to construction certificate and pre-sales.
A scheme ready for pre-sales. The design, renders and apartment layouts are complete. Marketing can start soon after settlement.
Flexible delivery. The two separate towers suit staged construction and funding, and possibly a split between build-to-sell and build-to-rent.
Scarce city-centre housing. The Panel found the project will provide "much needed housing, including affordable housing, in a well serviced and accessible location."
A place with its own character. The design includes a laneway lined with shops, a heritage corner and communal open space, which gives the project an identity beyond a standard apartment block.

Location

The site is on the southern edge of Queanbeyan's city centre, on the corner of Rutledge and Crawford Streets. Crawford Street is Queanbeyan's main retail and civic strip. Queanbeyan is the largest centre in the Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Council area and is part of the wider Canberra-Queanbeyan urban area, just across the ACT/NSW border.

Location highlights

Strategic context

The site is a key part of Council's Queanbeyan CBD Transformation Strategy and Spatial Master Plan. Council sold the land after a competitive two-stage Expressions of Interest process, and the project is widely seen as the catalyst for renewing Queanbeyan's city centre. The Planning Panel found that the development "reflects the policy framework adopted by QPRC for the emerging City Centre" and that the ground-floor commercial tenancies "will help activate the commercial core."

Key highlights

• Approved: Southern Regional Planning Panel consent, 4 November 2024, with unanimous decision
• Scale: 5,913 m² measured site with a 122 m frontage to Rutledge Street and a return to Crawford Street
• Yield: 178 apartments over two 10-storey buildings, including 27 affordable units (15%) to be managed by a community housing provider
• Commercial: 16 ground-floor tenancies of about 1,877 m² NLA facing a new pedestrian laneway
• Density: Approved FSR of about 3.29:1 (19,445 m²), with Clause 4.6 variations to height and FSR upheld
• Parking: Two basement levels with about 365 spaces in total, including residential, commercial, visitor and motorcycle parking
• Documentation: Stamped architectural, landscape, BASIX, BCA, acoustic, accessibility and sustainability reports, plus a demolition work plan

Fro more information contact Simon McGuire