Charter Hall extends government-leased property portfolio with ATO for 15 years

23 September 2022

Charter Hall’s Prime Office Fund (CPOF or the Fund) has acquired the premium office site at 15 Sydney Avenue, Barton from a development partnership comprising DOMA and Kenyon Investments, to construct the new Canberra HQ for the Australian Tax Office (ATO).

Situated in close proximity to Parliament House within the very low vacancy Barton office precinct, the five-storey building will provide over 33,000sqm of NLA with large floor plates and excellent natural light, views and strong sustainability credentials.

Charter Hall Group Managing Director & Group CEO, David Harrison, said, “We are delighted to extend our partnership with both DOMA and the Commonwealth Government as a long-term tenant customer, as we modernise our Office portfolio and select low vacancy markets which will drive long-term growth for our investors.”

Office CEO at Charter Hall, Carmel Hourigan, added, “This additional brand-new office project will extend our Office FUM to $29 billion including committed developments, and reduce the weighted average age of our Office portfolio towards eight years.”

“This is in line with our strategy to take advantage of the bifurcation of office markets, where we continue to attract tenants to state-of-the-art, sustainable and well-positioned buildings offering premium amenity and wellbeing services,” said Ms Hourigan.

Construction is due to start by April next year, and the ATO is expected to move in on a 15-year lease in 2025, combining staff from two separate buildings it currently occupies in the Civic CBD, north of Lake Burley Griffin, and on the other side of the lake from Canberra’s parliamentary precinct.

15 Sydney Avenue is targeting 4.5 Star NABERS Energy and 5 Star Green Star ratings.