Peet lodges $67m DA for 128 townhouses in first Bruce stage

Peet has lodged DA 202645605 with the ACT Planning Authority for 128 townhouses, the first stage of its Onderra estate on the former University of Canberra land in Bruce, Region Canberra reported on 21 October 2026. Public comment on the proposal is open until 9 November. The $67 million stage is proposed, not approved, and sits within a Territory Plan assessment still under way.

Why it matters

Onderra is Peet’s conversion of land it bought from the University of Canberra for $66 million in 2023, on Block 12, Section 3, Bruce, next to the UC campus. The full estate is planned for more than 1,600 homes across four stages over 15 years, housing an estimated 3,700 residents, so the stage-one DA is the first concrete test of how the ACT Planning Authority treats density and servicing on this site. For other developers watching the Bruce precinct, the outcome will signal how readily a 12.6-hectare campus-adjacent parcel can be staged into townhouse product versus apartments, and how much weight tree retention and public-space commitments carry in that assessment.

The numbers

The stage-one application covers almost 37,000 sqm of the estate’s near-126,000 sqm footprint and proposes 128 townhouses in 13 buildings: 37 two-bedroom, 78 three-bedroom and 12 four-bedroom units across 12 house plans, each with a double or tandem double garage. Peet originally split the stage across two blocks but has consolidated it into one to simplify servicing, Region Canberra reported, part of a revision that took the estate from an earlier staging plan to the current four stages. Vehicle access runs off Thirriwirri Street, with 25 visitor parking spaces on site and six more off site. The application proposes retaining 139 established mature trees, with about 36% canopy cover expected at maturity, and about 1,000 sqm of retail, commercial and education space is planned across the broader estate. Peet also holds an option, exercisable between 1 January 2027 and 31 December 2030, to buy a further 6.2 hectares from the university, which could support roughly 1,000 additional residences beyond the four mapped stages.

Most homes in the stage face north, Region Canberra reported, with about 20% carrying an east-west aspect. Peet’s own Onderra project material, cited by the outlet, describes the townhouses as built to a 7 to 8 star energy rating with solar passive design, rainwater harvesting, electric-vehicle charging provision and tree planting intended to cut urban heat across the estate. The estate is designed to connect into the UC campus itself, John Knight Memorial Park and University Park, with a new landscaped space, Spring Square, forming part of that link.

What’s next

Public comment on DA 202645605 closes 9 November, after which the ACT Planning Authority will assess the application against the Territory Plan before any decision issues; ACAT review may follow where the Territory Plan allows third-party appeals. The estate’s design also commits Peet to delivering and managing two public open spaces, including a western reserve containing protected snow gums, for five to 10 years before handing them to an Owners Corporation under a Transfer and Grant of Easement. None of the later three stages has been lodged yet, and Peet’s land-banked 6.2-hectare option does not open until 2027, so the near-term signal for the Bruce precinct will be whether this first 128-townhouse stage clears assessment without a further revision to its footprint. Separately, Core Developments is seeking to lift its Denman Prospect site from 27 approved townhouses to 154 apartments, with comment closing 2 November.