An artist’s impression of Vernon, Capital Property Group’s new office building for Constitution Place. Images: Bates Smart.
Capital Property Group has secured prominent law firm Clayton Utz as a tenant in its new office development under construction in the city and is preparing to submit a development application for the law courts car park site.
Currently at the Nishi building in New Acton, Clayton Utz will take up 3300 sqm of office space on floors six and seven when the new building on the corner of Constitution Avenue and Vernon Circle is completed in October next year.
Clayton Utz has signed a 12-year lease for its space in Vernon, which will complete Capital’s award-winning 65,000 sqm Constitution Place precinct.
Last year, Capital announced workspace manager Hub Australia as its first tenant. It will occupy level 1 and will manage the ground-floor meeting rooms.
Vernon is a 15,000 sqm, seven-level office building designed by the award-winning architectural firm Bates Smart.
Capital Group head of property Richard Snow said securing Clayton Utz was a vote of confidence in the project, notable for its high sustainability values.
Mr Snow said it was gratifying to meet the standards the firm requires from their workplaces.
“We think it’s going be really exciting project and workplace for them,” Mr Snow said.
“It allows them to consolidate from their current office space where they’re across two unconnected different floors.”
Mr Snow said Bates Smart would also handle Clayton Utz’s fit-out.
Clayton Utz chief executive partner Emma Covacevich said the new space would accommodate the firm’s expanding Canberra office.
“The move to Vernon will not only give us greater access to Canberra’s CBD but will also allow us to create more functional workspaces for our people and meeting spaces for our clients,” she said.
Mr Snow said amenities close by such as the hotel, restaurants and cafes were important considerations for Clayton Utz, which wanted a vibrant workplace.
“Constitution Place provided that in a bit more of a central location to where they previously were,” he said.
“They’re walking into a precinct which is established and created in the centre of the CBD.”
What the ground floor lobby of the new building will look like.
Mr Snow said Capital had been working on creating a central core and private sector hub at Constitution Place, and Clayton Utz would reinforce that effort.
Capital is also gearing up to start construction proper on its landmark office precinct planned for the law courts car park, with a development application for the main building imminent.
60 London Circuit will involve two 12-storey towers and two mid-sized seven-storey buildings set around an urban park, ground-floor restaurants, cafes and shops.
Capital has already begun early works such as service diversions to get ahead of light rail stage 2A, which will keep London Circuit closed between Northbourne Avenue and Edinburgh Avenue for the duration of the project.
Mr Snow said excavation would probably start by the end of the year.
At the southern end of City West, Capital is in the planning and staging phase for another gateway project on Section 121, opposite the QT Hotel.
Capital bought the site for $66 million in January and plans an ambitious six-building project of diverse architecture up to 13 storeys that includes offices, a high-end hotel, retail and dining, and apartments set around a central park.
“I think probably third-quarter this year we’ll probably have some announcements on that in terms of what we’re going to call the precinct, where we’re going to go about the staging,” he said.
Mr Snow said the company was also talking to various high-level hotel operators, including international brands, but the challenge in Canberra was the lack of a strong events program, including top sport, throughout the year.
“It is a strong business market, but the key to hotels is how you fill them when Parliament’s not sitting,” he said.
The ACT Government is pushing ahead with its plans for a new integrated convention centre and entertainment pavilion to help fill that space.
A new stadium at Bruce is on the list as well, but that appears to be a long way off yet.
The government is also looking to ramp up tourism from China, and part of those plans is attracting international hotel brands familiar to Chinese travellers.
