More than 3000 homes will be built in Canberra's north after the ACT reached a deal to buy a tract of the CSIRO's former research station for $385 million, concluding more than a decade of on-and-off talks about the land's future.
The national science agency will invest the proceeds from the sale of 243 hectares into priority research infrastructure, while the ACT government will start planning and consultation on a new suburb between the Belconnen and Gungahlin districts.
Chief Minister Andrew Barr said it was one of the most significant land acquisitions in the territory's history and would support the government's housing targets, including more affordable and community housing.
"By bringing this site into government ownership, we can ensure it is developed in a way that provides housing choice, new infrastructure and supports Canberra's growth over the coming decades," Mr Barr said.
Federal Science Minister Tim Ayres said the sale was a great initiative for Canberra and would free up much-needed land for housing and create new opportunities for local industry.
"This is also a really welcome development for CSIRO, which will put the proceeds from this transaction towards priority research infrastructure to strengthen national capability, and enable the scientific and industrial research that drives Australia's economic development," Senator Ayres said.
About 15 per cent of the homes in the new suburb will be affordable, community and public housing, the two governments said.
The CSIRO first raised the prospect of selling its Ginninderra research station in August 2015.
Finance Minister Katy Gallagher, who represents the ACT in the Senate, approved the sale of the site to the ACT government in February 2025, with the terms of the transaction still to be negotiated.
Following the sale's confirmation, Senator Gallagher said: "This agreement is a major step forward in delivering the housing Canberra needs. By working together, the Commonwealth and ACT governments are unlocking land that will support more than 3000 homes for local families.
"Access to secure and affordable housing is one of the biggest challenges facing Australians, and this project shows how governments can partner to deliver practical solutions that make a real difference in people's lives."
Talks between the ACT government's Suburban Land Agency and the CSIRO focused on the eastern section because the science agency had completed more work on its environmental constraints and development capability, with further work required to understand the western section's development capability, an ACT government spokeswoman said last year.
The eastern section of the research station is bordered by the Barton Highway, Kuringa Drive, Gundaroo Drive and Owen Dixon Drive.
ACT Housing Minister Yvette Berry said the purchase of the land would help the government meet its target of enabling "30,000 new homes to be built by the end of 2030".
"We look forward to working with the community over the years ahead to develop and deliver new suburbs at Ginninderra East," Ms Berry said.
Property Council ACT executive director Ashlee Berry welcomed the sale of the land and said a clear plan was now needed for the infrastructure that would enable new housing, which she said could demonstrate best-practice for future growth in the capital.
"For years, the Property Council has argued this is exactly the type of well-located urban land that should be brought forward to support new housing, including social and affordable homes," Ms Berry said.
"This site represents a rare opportunity to masterplan a brand-new community within Canberra's existing urban footprint, close to established infrastructure, services and employment centres."
Master Builders Association ACT chief executive Anna Neelagama said builders applauded the deal being struck and the land would provide a much-needed stimulus for residential building activity in the capital.
"This week's building approvals show we're still on track for well short of our national home building targets in the ACT and we'll have to throw the kitchen sink in order to catch up in time by 2030. If the CSIRO project is done in an expedient way, that could help contribute to inject some supply," Ms Neelagama said.
The CSIRO in 2011 had found the entire 701-hectare site was underutilised for agricultural research and then sought to find a partner to deliver a "socially and environmentally sustainable community offering high-quality options for living, working and mobility" on the land.
The CSIRO asked the National Capital Authority to include the site in areas for potential future development.
Despite community opposition, the land was rezoned in 2016 to allow future urban development prompting Mr Barr to warn at the time he would not have allowed the land to be rezoned in such a short amount of time.
A joint venture to develop the former experiment station collapsed in 2016.
A report by the Commonwealth Auditor-General in 2020 revealed the CSIRO's development plans were stymied in late 2016, when the Department of Finance received legal advice saying the CSIRO might not have the power to enter a land joint venture.
The CSIRO has occupied the Ginninderra site since 1958, but much of its agricultural research has since moved to a new 290-hectare experiment station at Boorowa.
Discussions between the ACT government and the CSIRO to form a joint venture to develop the site fell apart in 2016. The 2020 audit report also revealed an unsolicited offer for the site fell through in December 2019.
Former Liberal ACT senator Zed Seselja promised before the 2022 federal election a re-elected Coalition government would put part of the land on the market and block the ACT government from buying it.
"Importantly it will be released to the private sector, not to the ACT government, and the reason for that is because, if we were to release it to the government, my fear is that they would land bank it in the same that they are land banking so much land around the territory and we wouldn't achieve our ends," Mr Seselja said in April 2022.
The CSIRO and the ACT government confirmed discussions to buy the land had begun in November 2022, about six months after Labor formed government after the federal election.
In April 2024, Mr Barr and Housing Minister Yvette Berry wrote to Senator Gallagher and then-science minister Ed Husic, urging the federal government to finish an agreement to transfer the CSIRO's Ginninderra experiment station to the territory.
Senator Gallagher has said she had "long supported this sale as an important step towards unlocking more housing, including more social and affordable housing, in the ACT".
