An artist’s impression of the proposal. Image: Cox Architecture.
A gateway corner in Dickson will be home to two towers and 630 units for student accommodation if a development application for the $119 million project is approved.
Proposed by SMEC for 496 Dickson Pty Ltd, whose director is Canberra developer Wayne Gregory, the project will deliver 704 student beds across nine and 10-storey buildings on the corner of Northbourne Avenue and Antill Street (Block 15, Section 33), not far from Dickson shops and close to public transport.
The DA states that the site is also situated near several educational institutions, including Dickson College (1.6 km away), Academy of Interactive Entertainment (1.6 km), Australian Catholic University (1.8 km), Australian National University (3.9 km), Canberra Institute of Technology (4.5 km), and University of Canberra (4.8 km).
“The vision for the site is to create a vibrant, inclusive and sustainable student accommodation precinct that serves as a dynamic gateway connecting Northbourne Avenue and Antill Streets with Dickson,” it says.
“The precinct will be a model of student living, where students can live, learn, and thrive in a harmonious and supportive environment.”
The DA states that the development has been designed to be adaptable to other uses if market and community expectations change.
A four-storey office building and surface carpark on the site will make way for the student accommodation.
Plans for the corner site first emerged in 2022, when a 435-unit build-to-rent project across four buildings was proposed, and a buyer/investor was sought for a turn-key development.
The new proposal features buildings arranged around a central plaza, including ground-floor shops to activate the Northbourne Avenue, Antill Street, and Challis Street frontages.
The nine-storey Building A will front Northbourne Avenue, rise to a height of 32 metres and contain 98 units and 172 beds, comprising 32 studio, 24 one-bedroom, 10 two-bedroom and 32 three-bedroom units.
On the ground floor, the building will have a communal dining area, common room, reception and lobby, as well as a 123 sqm commercial tenancy, waste rooms and housekeeping facilities.
A view of the development from Antill Street.
The larger, U-shaped, 10-storey Building B, fronting Antill and Challis Streets, will also rise 32 metres and contain 532 one-bedroom units.
It will feature two ground-floor commercial tenancies, measuring 70 sqm and 91 sqm in size.
The DA says the inclusion of high-quality study rooms, specialty rooms (music, prayer, yoga), laundry, gymnasium and recreational spaces, as well as rooftop gardens, will provide a high level of liveability and wellbeing.
The rooftop spaces will include a communal barbecue area, yoga areas and communal gardens.
An area of 880 sqm, or 14.4 per cent, is proposed for deep soil planting of trees and will include a range of locally occurring and other plant species to assist with urban cooling and shading of both private and public domains.
Several existing trees will need to be removed.
The precinct aims to be a model of student living.
Three basement levels will provide 314 parking spaces, although only 161 of these will be for students, with a 153-space commercial carpark planned.
The DA argues that the ACT Government’s rates for student housing are too high, at 0.5 spaces per bedroom unit, particularly in a highly accessible area such as Dickson, with light rail and cycle paths nearby. It adopts the NSW rate for boarding houses of 0.2 spaces per bedroom unit, stating that the lower rate better reflects the actual parking demand anticipated, aligns with the reduced car dependency, the highly accessible location, and the green travel aspirations of the development.
“This ensures that there continues to be sufficient availability of public car parking within Dickson, and provides additional flexibility for the use of the site in the future,” the DA says.
Every resident will have a bicycle parking space, with 778 bicycle parking spaces located on basement level 1 and the ground floor. Additionally, 307 storage cages will be provided across all three basement levels.
Ten accessible/disabled parking spaces are included, and six visitor spaces are planned for the ground floor. For motorcyclists, 10 spaces are provided.
A new public laneway is proposed along the southern boundary of the site, with access from Northbourne Avenue and Challis Street, leading to the car and bike entry to the basement carpark in Building B.
The DA is open for comment until 30 October.
