Construction has begun on 70 new affordable homes on the Canberra Southern Cross Club's former pitch-and-putt site.
Plans for an apartment precinct on the site have been in the works since 2022, when the Southern Cross Club announced its intention to develop the site amid a push from the ACT government for clubs to diversify away from poker machine revenue.
The two buildings now under construction are the first of seven planned for the Woden site, and will create 140 new homes for the growing town centre.
Half of those will be affordable homes rented out at 74.9 per cent or less of market value, a proportion of which will be reserved for healthcare and community workers, essential workers and veterans.
The buildings are being developed by a joint venture between the Southern Cross Club and CHC Housing, a Canberra-based community housing provider.
A mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments will be available across the two six-storey buildings, which are expected to be finished in 18 months.
Deputy Chief Minister Yvette Berry said the 70 affordable apartments would contribute to the 5000 new public, community and affordable rentals promised by the ACT government by 2030.
"Partnerships with the Southern Cross Club and Community Housing Care Canberra are all important to making sure that we can get through this housing crisis. These are the kinds of innovations, these kinds of projects are going to see us through that," Ms Berry said.
"These will be for key workers, so teachers, students perhaps veterans who will be able to get into affordable homes, pay an affordable rent and then be able to save to buy a home on their own."
Between 1999 and 2013, the Canberra Southern Cross Club operated a pitch and putt on the 28,312-square-metre site between Launceston Street, Yamba Drive and Canberra College.
After that proved unviable, the club built a health and wellness centre on the southern corner, which will continue operating after the development is finished.
A seven-building master plan for the site was approved by the planning authority in early February 2025. That first development application also included the plans for the two buildings now under construction.
Later that month, a development application for the next two buildings was also approved. One will be six-storey apartment building with 52 apartments. The other will be a 12-storey building with 147 apartments.
Construction on those buildings was slated to begin mid this year.
A third development application, this time for two 12-storey buildings containing up to 312 apartments, was put before the planning authority in January this year.
Plans for the final and tallest building in the precinct have not yet been submitted to the planning authority.
Woden is in the midst of a development boom as a result of rapid population growth, with the light rail service expected to reach the suburb as part of the stage 2B of construction.
Scentre Group, the owner of Westfield Woden and Westfield Belconnen, has submitted plans for 17 new buildings in the town centre, some up to 55 storeys high.
