WALKER Corporation's latest coup in Canberra has drawn criticisms.
Whilst the Property Council of Australia yesterday welcomed the announcement by the ACT Government of the sale of the QEII site, the industry group said the process which led to the sale must never be repeated.
Property Council of ACT’s executive director Catherine Carter said the “behind closed doors” process used by the government was nothing short of outrageous.
This sentiment was the echoed by the ACT Opposition, who said it is not convinced the government got the best price for the sale of the former QEII hospital site.
The Opposition’s planning spokesman Zed Seselja said the government should have auctioned off the site.
“We’re still critical of the process,” he said. “The reality is that we will never know what kind of price may have been achieved had this been an open and transparent auction process, instead of the secretive process that the Government has conducted.”
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Jon Stanhope said Walker Corporation was selected to partner with LDA in the Department of Education, Science and Training tender on the basis of its compliance with published evaluation criteria and the value for money represented by its bid.
“The LDA engaged and utilised the services of a probity and legal adviser throughout the process, which was undertaken in accordance with required procedures,” he continued.
The QE II site would now be on-sold by the LDA to the Walker Corporation for $39.6 million.
The QE II site in Civic will be sold for a major new office building to house the Commonwealth DEST. Walker Corporation would develop 40,000 sqm of office accommodation on the block for DEST.
“Offering a commercial site to a private-sector developer, such as Walker Corporation, with a pre-commitment by a large Commonwealth Department tenant, has the potential to attract a much higher price for the Territory, as the developer’s risk is heavily reduced,” he added.
Now that the DEST tender has been awarded to the LDA, the land will be sold to Walker Corporation, which will construct and manage the development process without any further involvement from the LDA. It is expected that Walker Corporation will commence construction before the end of the year.
Australian Property Journal
