The recruitment of 1000 public servants over the next 12 months should stem Canberra's rising office market vacancy rate, now the highest in Australia.
Colliers International says Canberra's central business district office vacancy is 9per cent, a slight increase of 0.5per cent over the past six months, but still ahead of Sydney at 7.9per cent, Brisbane at 7.6per cent and Melbourne at 6.2per cent.
Colliers research shows vacancies across the nation will continue rising because of a flood of sub-lease space on the market.
But the agency's ACT chief executive Paul Powderly said budget papers indicated the federal public service would increase staff coinciding with new policy initiatives such as carbon emission legislation, creating a net increase of between 800 and 1000 public servants in the year ahead.
Most of the office vacancy was at Canberra Airport and without this the underlying vacancy rate was about 5per cent.
While the Equinox Business Park in Kent Street, Deakin had not yet completed any space it was likely a Commonwealth Government department would lease 8-9000sqm and more space would come on to the market mid-2010.
More in today's Canberra Times
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