Departments of Education, Workplace Relations to move into new 11-storey Civic office by mid-2026

The departments will move to London Circuit in mid 2026, after securing a 15-year deal.

It marks the second major move for a federal agency after the Australian Taxation Office announced it was going to a new building in Barton in 2025, leaving its Narellan and Genge Street offices empty.

Some industry figures are praising the deal, saying the development is likely to attract thousands of workers to an underutilised part of Canberra's CBD.

But other experts are concerned the office buildings being left behind will become ghost towns, leaving thousands of square metres of unused property in the city's centre.

The 70,000-square-metre site on the corner of London Circuit and Northbourne Avenue will be developed into an 11-floor office and is tipped to be called London Quarter.

READ MORE: Education, Workplace Relations to get new 11-storey Civic office

The Department of Education, the Department of Workplace Relations and the Australian Electoral Commission will all move to the central office building in mid-2026 for a 15-year lease allowing all Canberra-based staff to work in the one location.

The building will offer touchless amenities and include open floor space for staff.

The department will provide a submission to a parliamentary committee during this month with further details expected by the end of the year.

The Education Department first approached the market for a new site in late 2020 as its five leases, covering 75,000 square metres of office space across Canberra, are due to expire by May 2025.

It sought expressions of interest for accommodation options between 50,000 and 70,000 square metres within the Canberra CBD.

The ACT government flagged late last month it was in the final stages of selling the block of land, known as Block 40, Section 100 City, after it was first advertised for sale in February last year.

The site is currently used as a car park for the ACT Supreme Court and Melbourne Building businesses.

Commercial property agency Colliers and infrastructure service provider Ventia managed the lease transaction through a joint government approach to market.

Nick Evans, head of government property services at Colliers, said the procurement process had been in the works for several years.

"It's the biggest leasing transaction for Canberra in recent memory, but also across Australia," he said.

Mr Evans described the London Quarter development as "city-shaping" and said it would bring thousands of workers to the city centre.

"It is an underutilised part of the Canberra City centre," he said.

"From a Commonwealth perspective, it's putting roots down in Canberra City and saying 'This is where we're going to be for the next 15 or so years'."

But Stephen Oxford, a former Finance Department official and head of Australian Strategic Property Advisers, said he was concerned about the long-term implications for new large-scale office developments.

"It's hard to believe that, on a financial basis, a new development is more cost effective than staying in the existing building," he said.

"It creates a market where if the government moves out of these huge office buildings, they quickly become obsolete because the private sector just doesn't have that kind of scale of demand in Canberra."

He added the vacated office spaces would be tough to fill with new tenants unless other major departments were looking to move in.

"Due to their design, they're difficult to break up into a series of smaller tenancies to meet private sector demand," Mr Oxford said.

"I think it sends a message to investors that you might develop an asset but there's no guarantee you can retain your tenant beyond the initial term and I think that can deter investors from spending money in Canberra."

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Despite major department moves having been on the cards for some years, it hasn't dampened confidence among some commercial office investors.

Investment firms Charter Hall and GIC jointly purchased 50 Marcus Clarke Street in 2021 for $335 million with the knowledge the education department's lease was due to expire in 2025.

Charter Hall is also understood to be conducting due diligence on the current Tax Office building at Genge Street for a purchase price of around $300 million.

The Tax Office's move to Barton is good news for Charter Hall, given it has also become the owner of the department's new office at 15 Sydney Avenue.

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