After 10 years and numerous development applications, Village Building Co is ready to start work on the former Australian Police Force complex in Weston.
The Canberra-based property developer purchased the site in 2017 for a reported $32 million, with plans to develop a mixture of standalone and townhouses on the site.
Years of back and forth with the local community followed the original development application, eventually ending up in the ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal.
A final development application has now been approved by the planning authority for 168 townhouses on the site, a plan chief executive Rob Fisher has guaranteed will be the last.
"We've run a number of pop-up consultation sessions with people, and the feedback from the community was really positive," Mr Fisher said.
"In fact, the number one piece of feedback was 'get on with it', so we're really pleased to be able to deliver on that respect."
In 2023, Village Building Co finally secured both local and government support when it proposed a mixture of townhouses and three-storey apartment buildings on the site.
Late last year, however, two amendments to the application were submitted to the planning authority, one which removed the apartment buildings, and one which subdivided the land to include two blocks where a childcare and healthcare centre could be built.
"That's what the market is chasing in Weston," Mr Fisher said.
Weston Creek has been experiencing a resurgence in popularity over the past few years. In the 2025-26 financial year, suburbs in the area took out five of the top 10 spots for house value growth in the ACT. Another townhouse development in the site next to the Village Building Co's recently received 150 expressions of interest before the official marketing campaign began.
Mr Fisher was tight-lipped about how many of the townhouses at the site, now known as Fetherston Weston, had already sold, but said the largest number of buyers were people upsizing from apartments.
"People who've been living in places like Coombs and Wright, also Woden, and maybe have a first-time buyer apartment in those places are looking to get a bit more space, maybe fit a family in," he said.
"They can see the attraction of the townhouse product. There's not a lot of this sort of stuff in Weston."
Construction of the childcare centre is expected to begin later this year. The first 49 townhouses are set to get under way in early 2027 and home owners can expect to move in before May the next year. Future stages will be released periodically.
The development industry has been critical of the ACT's planning approval process for being drawn out, unclear and subject to third-party objection.
Mr Fisher praised recent changes to the ACT's planning development process, which he said would lead to better coordination between the various parts of government in assessing planning applications.
"What we've seen since that process has begun is pragmatic, sensible solutions to coordinating between different parts of government and us as the builder and developer," he said.
"We can honestly say this has happened quicker in this year than it would have done in any previous year."
