Historic Ginninderra Village 10 kilometres from Canberra is on the market

It is slap bang in the middle of one of the ACT’s biggest tourist hubs Gold Creek Village, the long-term home to popular attractions including Cockington Green, the Australian Reptile Centre, the Bird Walk, Federation Square, the George Harcourt Inn and the National Dinosaur Museum.

And it’s just 10 kilometres north of the Canberra CBD along the busy Barton Highway that streams some 12,500 vehicles past the precinct each day.

The village has long attracted tourists, charmed by its sense of history dating to the 1870s – even though not much built evidence still stands.

The remains of the historic settlement were absorbed into the Gold Creek village-branded tourism complex that was established in the early 1990s with an evolving line-up of shops, tourist attractions and cafes.

Many visitors expect a gold prospecting adventure, given the name, but there’s no gold history or even a dry creek bed in the actual precinct. It is said to have been named after a racehorse.

The schoolhouse (1884) and the former St Francis Catholic Church (1872) are all that remain of the once-thriving centre of the Ginninderra district.

Naish Stormon of LJ Hooker Gungahlin says Ginninderra Village presents an unrivalled commercial investment with many benefits.

“For a start, it offers immediate and long-term opportunities for astute buyers – owner-occupiers, investors or developers,” he says.

“Tenants are on month-to-month lease arrangements. That gives a new owner the opportunity to immediately occupy, improve returns or – alternatively – redevelop the site.”

The total current tenants’ net area is about 733.5 square metres, with a further 392 square metres (approximately) approved for additional development.

“A big portion of the site is still undeveloped and fronts the Barton Highway. That’s well suited to a variety of uses permitted under a CZ6 – Leisure and Accommodation zoning,” Mr Stormon says.

That zoning allows the land to be used as a craft workshop, indoor recreation facility, restaurant, or as a shop – restricted to the sale of entertainment, accommodation, and leisure goods such as specialty items or arts, crafts and souvenirs – and as a tourist facility.

Other potential uses include as a caravan park, hotel, casino, car park, commercial accommodation, community use, as “a place of assembly”, or a subdivision.

“This site will deliver significant long-term capital growth to a new owner due to its strategic location and proximity to one of the fastest growing population corridors in Australia,” Mr Stormon says.

Neighbouring Gungahlin is one of Australia’s fastest growing residential regions with population growth rate of more than 6 per cent per annum.