Gungahlin is finally getting a cinema with construction starting soon

More than eight years since the first proposal was submitted, construction is finally going ahead on the long-awaited Gungahlin cinema development.

According to The RiotACT, the development is set to break ground next month after the appointment of a company to build the $15 million project.

The cinema will sit on the vacant block on the corner of Hinder and Efkarpidis Streets in the Gungahlin Town Centre, right next to Gungahlin Village.

Construction company Construction Control, who have offices in Canberra, Sydney and Brisbane, will complete the development, with on-site preparations to start this month. Construction will then begin in August, with the project due to be completed in February 2022.

Sitting right on the light rail line, the mixed-use development will comprise three ground-floor retail spaces, a ground floor cinema foyer and the cinemas upstairs, including six smaller cinemas with 187 seats, plus two larger cinemas with 270 seats. Cinemas will have a dress circle theatre layout, with recliner seats where patrons will be waited on with food on the lower level, and standard seating on the upper level.

The new cinema complex will be operated by United Cinemas, who also have outlets in Avalon, Collaroy, Craigieburn, Eldorado, Katoomba, McGraths Hill, Narellan, Rockingham and Warriewood, with one also planned for Queanbeyan.

The news will come as a relief for many Gungahlin residents, who have been long anticipating a local cinema complex since the ACT Government first called for expressions of interest back in 2012. Construction was meant to start in 2014, but was delayed due to legal action between Hoyts and United Cinemas, with United ultimately winning out.

The cinema complex is the first stage of an overall mixed-use development on the Block 1 Section 12 site, which has sat undeveloped since the construction of Gungahlin Town Centre in 2004. Stage 2 on the northern corner of the block is subject to a separate DA, and will comprise two levels of offices plus a ground floor of retail shops and a café. Development on the eastern side of the block is yet to be determined.