The former headquarters of the Labor party in Barton is set to be demolished to make way for an $85 million office building.
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Major real estate investor Cromwell Property Group has received approval from the National Capital Authority to knock down Centenary House and build a six-storey office building on the site at 19 National Circuit.
The new 18,000-square-metre office will be more than triple the size of the existing building. It will have A-grade office space and this will surround an internal atrium.
There will be a ground floor cafe and 225 parking spaces across two basement levels. It would also have 136 bike parking spaces.
Cromwell purchased the block from a Labor Party entity, John Curtin House Limited, 15 years ago for $35 million.
The controversial former Labor HQ has previously been the subject of two royal commissions, in 1994 and 2004. The Liberal-National party accused Labor of charging excessive rent.
Labor leased most of the building to the Australian National Audit Office, it was a 15-year lease with an annual rent increase of 9 per cent.
Former prime minister John Howard said the inflated rent had pushed up the sale price.
The 1994 royal commission found the rent charged was not excessive but the 2004 commission found it was. Both reports cleared the ALP of any wrong doing.
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Demolition is set to start early next year.
Cromwell head of property Bobby Binning said the building would be marketed for tenants over the coming months.
"We have been an active investor in the ACT for more than two decades now," he said.
"We originally acquired 19 National Circuit in 2005 and look forward to investing further in what is a landmark location. Once complete, the new building will incrementally add over 10,000 square metres of additional new lettable area to our Canberra portfolio.
"We will begin engaging with a construction partner and look to market the building to potential tenant-customers over the coming months."