Construction on a $300 million government and commercial office and hotel precinct next to the ACT Legislative Assembly will begin next January.
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The 9000 square metre car park on the corner of London Circuit and Constitution Avenue will be redeveloped into two buildings, linked by a Melburnian-style laneway.
One will contain five storeys of government offices and the other will have 12 levels of commercial offices and a five-star Adina Apartment Hotel Grand with 132 rooms over four levels.
A laneway full of cafes and shops will connect the Canberra Theatre Centre to Constitution Avenue.
A "Legislative Plaza" will join the assembly and the government office blocks.
Capital Property Group managing director Stephen Byron said "Constitution Place" would be "Canberra's number one corporate address".
"We're building a new icon for the city," Mr Byron said.
"Melbourne has set the trend with laneway development – small, exciting and innovative spaces which lend real vibrancy and colour to the cityscape.
"We've borrowed that concept, with the new Legislative Plaza to Akuna Street, and an activated retail laneway between the two buildings, connecting Constitution Avenue with the Canberra Theatre."
The buildings will be five-star energy rated and the government office block will host a 200kw roof-mounted solar array.
It is hoped they will be the first to be WELL rated in Canberra.
"WELL looks at the impact of everything in the buildings, and aims to provide a truly healthy working environment," Mr Byron said.
"It incorporates the kind of food served in the cafes, access to child care, people's fitness regimes and the amenities they require."
Mr Byron said construction would begin in January 2018 so the site would be available for car parking until then.
The existing 225 outdoor car spaces would be replaced by three basement levels of car parking with 550 spots.
"It'll be very easy to park, to go to the theatre or to the restaurants and we'll have state of the art technology, probably ticketless parking and that will make it very easy to get in and out of," Mr Byron said.
The Snow family's Capital Property Group won the tender to build the new Civic office block last July.
The office block has been an on-again, off-again project for many years, first announced in 2010 as a government build, when it was to include a ministerial wing and a "sky bridge" to link it to the Assembly building.
The project has changed a lot since then, with the development expected to be finished by August 2020.
The same builders and architects that worked on the award-winning Vibe Hotel at Canberra Airport will deliver Constitution Place.
Rachel Argaman, the chief executive of TFE Group, which will operate the Adina Apartment Hotel Grand Canberra, said it would be a "lifestyle" precinct.
"Canberra is truly taking its place on the world stage right now. There are international flights coming direct into the city from Singapore and Wellington now and the accommodation and hotel space in Canberra is really flourishing and doing really well," Ms Argaman said.
"There is a huge trend [now internationally] towards place-making. What visitor coming in nationally and internationally are looking for is that sense of place. They're looking for somewhere not only to stay but to eat, to drink, to play and for great spaces making truly memorable experiences. I think what this precinct is doing is bringing all that together, re-enlivening, re-invigorating the city."
