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An application to consolidate three commercial sites in Canberra’s city centre has become the latest step in a bid to bring an office block proposal to life.
Morris Property Group has filed the application with the ACT Planning and Land Authority.
It seeks to amalgamate Blocks 12, 13 and 15 Section 14 City, at 175-179 London Circuit. Block 12 is 569sq m, Block 13 259sq m, and Block 15 comprises 55 square metres.
The consolidation bid comes two years after planning authorities refused Morris Property Group’s original 13-storey tower proposal.
The company scaled back those plans from 2023 to a seven-storey office building and held community consultation before winning development approval.
Morris Property Group still holds development approval for the site. It filed a consolidation application on August 29 to satisfy conditions of that approval.
The document notes that block consolidation was required before the approved development could proceed.
The 2023 proposal included plans to acquire a 50sq m parcel of land. Block 15, at 55sq m, is now part of the consolidation application, indicating Morris Property Group secured the additional land required for the project.
The site is within Canberra’s CZ1 Core Zone, bounded by London Circuit to the south, Ainslie Place to the east and Riverside Lane to the west.
The previous proposals indicated the site had been occupied by the National Australia Bank and Kowalski Recruitment offices.
The application proposes that the consolidated Crown lease would allow a mix of office, retail, bulky goods, cafes, restaurants, personal services, supermarkets and takeaway outlets.
The London Circuit consolidation would also enable the company to proceed with its approved seven-storey development as a single integrated property.
Morris Property Group has completed more than 65 projects across Australia, including luxury developments such as the Opus tower on Queensland’s Gold Coast.
The company operates from offices in Barton, ACT and Mermaid Beach, Queensland, and specialises in property investment, asset management, development and construction.
Morris Property Group previously planned a $500-million Section 100 development for 1200 apartments before shelving it in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Nearby, Capital Property Group paid $66 million for a London Circuit site to develop a $650 million mixed-use precinct with 502 apartments. It also has a separate project of 65,000sq m commercial precinct on the corner of Northbourne Avenue and London Circuit, designed by Johnson Pilton Walker, in the works.
