Australian Taxation Office proposes $125 million spend on fit out for new Barton site

The federal government's primary revenue collection agency will move from the city centre to Barton in 2025, merging its two Civic offices.

The proposed fit out will have corporate conference facilities, open collaboration spaces, an on-site privately owned cafe and "various secure rooms to support ATO security and intelligence activities", which will require "enhanced building construction".

The new site will house the agency's Canberra-based workforce of 2500.

A total of 120 parking spaces will be developed for exclusive agency use while a third party will provide around 235 parking bays on a "user pays basis".

The Sydney Avenue six-storey site will offer "unallocated workspaces", known as hot-desking, as part of the agency's strategy to deliver "fit-for-purpose, safe and flexible accommodation" that "reflects the changing ways of working".

Developers will also seek to make it a sustainable site, with five-star Green Star ratings.

The move will see the ATO downsize its leased space, with the new building's net lettable area measuring at 33,521 meters square, nearly 50 percent less than its two Civic offices.

Members of the agency's executive committee last year told staff that if required, the new site "will have the ability to support growth in the future with a ratio of less than one desk per staff member".

The agency forecasts the work will cost more than $125.8 million, GST exclusive, with financing for the development coming from "existing departmental funds". The breakdown of the project cost estimate has been kept confidential.

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A parliamentary committee will examine the ATO's submission for cost-effectiveness, public value and need for the work, among other things.

The agency stated the work was needed for a number of reasons, including because the current fit out at the two Civic sites "is at the end of its usable life and is not consistent with a modern workplace".

"The workstations are over 15 years old and due to their age, large size, lack of serviceability and parts, they are not economical to maintain or suitable to meet the current government density targets," the submission stated.

The agency said the proposal will allow them to reduce operational overheads as well as emissions and create jobs during the construction and fit out period. Global real estate services firm Cushman and Wakefield has been engaged to manage the fit out.

Its submission also notes that the land where the building will be constructed had previously been referred for approval under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act, for the critically endangered natural temperate grassland and golden sun moth.

"The referral was approved with conditions met by the former owner of the site," it states.

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The ATO has been renting out the two Civic office spaces at 26 Narellan Street and 21 Genge Street since 2007. Both leases expire in 2027.

Earlier, property giant Charter Hall struck a deal to acquire the agency's current headquarters in Civic for $290 million.

Construction work on the agency's new building started this May, with the site expected to be complete in 2025.

The move will see staff shift into the parliamentary triangle, closer to other major federal government employers including the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.