Work has begun on a $150 million office development in the city centre, after Terry Snow's Capital Property Group bought a prime block of land from the ACT government.
The group purchased the block on the corner of Vernon Circle and Constitution Avenue for $17.75 million.
It will sit next to the group's Constitution Place precinct, which the group partially sold for $275 million in 2022.
That project won Australia's best mixed-use development from the Property Council of Australia the same year.
"It is a complete transformation. There used to be 10,000 rabbits in this precinct and no people," ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr said.
"The project will only add to the vitality of the precinct."
Group head of property at Capital Property Group Richard Snow said the new building would extend the existing precinct and "reinforce the central business district as the logical place for business in Canberra".
The building will have six levels and 15,000 square metres of space, with underground parking.
It is promised to be fully electric and powered largely by solar under the ACT government's climate change strategy.
The front of the building will be made of sustainable timber, which Mr Snow said would mean 15 per cent less concrete use, proportionally, than a traditional office building.
Vacancy rates loom large
Capital Property Group chief executive Stephen Byron was confident the offices would be successfully tenanted despite a slight uptick in office vacancy rates last year.
"[Vacancy changes] are short-term. They're like this week's petrol prices," he said.
"We are building for the long term with a 50- to 100-year vision."
The new office building will eventually house about 1000 employees and several "significant corporates" have their eye on the property, Mr Byron said.
It is expected to attract private tenants because of a modular internal layout that can be converted for teams of different sizes or layouts.
"Tenants really want a new generation of fitout design and this building is going to allow for that," Mr Snow said.
It will have light from all four angles of the building, a ground-floor cafe and space for group meetings or relaxation.
"One of the advantages of this building is that it's got no adjoining buildings right up next to it, so you can have very good natural light and very good access to views," Mr Snow said.
Work on the development is expected to be completed in 2026.
Despite construction delays across the city, Mr Byron expected the build to be finished on time.
"We are working with our long-term project management partner, Construction Control," he said.
"When you use local people, they know how to take care of their staff to [stay in business] for the long-term."
