A mostly vacant office block in Tuggeranong will be converted into a 76-apartment hotel by serviced-apartment operator Veriu.
The Tuggeranong Innovation Centre at 205 Anketell Street, Greenway was previously occupied by the government, but is currently around half empty office space. The remaining space is used by the Canberra Institute of Technology.
The Punthill Tuggeranong development, a 76-room hotel, is expected to open in its place midway through 2024, chief executive of Veriu Group Zed Sanjana said.
"With the escalation of construction costs, readapting existing under-utilised office space in prime locations is a really attractive proposition for us, which will allow us to minimise construction costs and complete projects much more quickly in markets where we've identified growing demand for quality CBD and suburban assets," he said.
"We're now embarking on the first of several planned office conversions ... [and] we're currently in the process of transforming the vacant office space into a new 76-apartment hotel.
"Not only is it located in one of the city's major commercial and government hubs, but it's also expected to cater for the territory's growing tourism market."
Developer Crispin's Crispian is looking to attract a long-term hotel tenant on a 15-year lease.
Previous population number predictions indicated while the rest of ACT's regions' numbers were expected to rise in coming years, Tuggeranong's was expected to decline.
Twenty per cent of Canberra's population lived in Tuggeranong at the time of the 2021 census, but this was predicted to drop to 11 per cent by 2060.
Tuggeranong Community Council president and Kambah resident Glenys Patulny said in March the age of the area was drawing people - and government attention - away from the region.
"I understand that new places need new things built within them, but the older suburbs have a lot of things that are not at all up to standard," she said.
Ms Patulny said there was scope for some smaller scale developments in the Tuggeranong region, like the conversion of existing space for something more beneficial.
"I am aware that the area is not going to grow at the rate that areas in the north are, but to be honest, we don't want that, either," she said.
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