From NT Independent, 13 November 2024.
Darwin Council will spend more than double the money on a new civic centre than it said it would spend two years ago, as part of a new public-private development deal announced with developer DCOH.
In a media statement on Wednesday, Lord Mayor Kon Vatskalis, who is battling controversy over the council’s Cyclone Tracy memorial, said council would spent $77 million on the building, which would be funded from cash reserves and borrowings.
The 20-storey building will cost an estimated $150 million in total, which will see the council share the building with the developer in a unique arrangement, with both parties owning 10 floors each and council stating it would maintain 51 per cent ownership of the building.
Mr Vatskalis said it was proposed council would occupy 10 floors of the new building, with two floors for customer service, a new library, a new function space, council chambers, public meeting rooms and community space, with three floors of office space for staff.
Five of council’s floors would be used for car parking and building operational space.
Mr Vatskalis said the cost for council included $30 million for internal car parking, with Mr Vatskalis making it appear as if council was providing parking for the whole building: “Importantly, the new building will include approximately 400 car parking spaces that can be used by residents, workers and visitors to the city and our new library”.
“The new civic centre will feature a larger library with an expanded footprint, meeting rooms and function spaces that can be booked by the community, new council chambers, space for a café and an improved customer service centre,” Mr Vatskalis said.
“The existing civic centre has served the community well for more than 50 years but is now unserviceable and a new development is required to meet the needs of the community.”
Mr Vatskalis said the council proposed to build the new civic centre on the car park next to the current building, which would remain operational throughout construction, while the design will “respect and give prominence” to the Tree of Knowledge to protect it.
Council said construction was expected to commence in the Dry Season 2025 and would be finished sometime in 2028.
DCOH managing director Shane Dignan said the partnership highlighted his company’s commitment to growing the Territory.
“With proven expertise in delivering large-scale commercial assets, we are confident in our ability to deliver projects on time and within budget, creating value for the community and our stakeholders,” Mr Dignan said.
“DCOH is committed to 10 floors as part of the civic centre development, including 10,000sqm of Net Lettable Area (NLA), within the project.”
The redevelopment page of the Darwin Council website says that in December 2023, the council sought expressions of interest from prospective partners to develop the centre and an independent probity officer was engaged to oversee the procurement process.
A council press release at the time said proposals should include the provision of 300 car parking spaces for council and public parking and proposed private developments would need to provide for all planning approval requirements within their proposal, inclusive of car parking requirements. The full parking burden now seems to be carried by the council.
Wednesday’s council press release said Darwin Council undertook an extensive community and stakeholder engagement process in 2022, input from which was used to develop the new civic centre’s functional design brief.
In early 2022, the council announced it had committed $30 million to redeveloping the existing civic centre which would house council chambers, offices, a ceremonial town hall that could be used for weddings and official functions, and the library.
A November 2019 Darwin City Deal implementation plan stated the agreement between the Federal Government, Northern Territory Government, and Darwin Council – which was signed in 2018 – would see council give up the land worth $14.6 million for the new Charles Darwin University campus as well as spend $27 million on the underground car park there. In exchange, the council would relocate its council chambers and offices to the new precinct, which was “subject to further consideration of detailed arrangements during the implementation phase of the City Deal”.
The money for the cark park was to be subject to a resolution of council.
It is unclear why this part of the City Deal agreement did not go ahead but there is a still a copy of it on the council website.
At the time of signing the City Deal, Mr Vatskalis was glowing in praise of it.
“The council and I look forward to working closely with our City Deal partners as we take forward this historic agreement that will help grow and transform Darwin,” Mr Vatskalis said.
Below is from the City of Darwin Website, https://www.darwin.nt.gov.au/projects/civic-centre-development
The existing Civic Centre has served the community well for more than 50 years but is now unserviceable and a development of the Civic Centre Plaza is required to meet the needs of the community and City of Darwin staff.
In December 2023, City of Darwin sought Expressions of Interest from prospective partners to deliver the development of a new Civic Centre. City of Darwin engaged an independent probity officer to oversee the procurement process. A proponent was engaged to develop preliminary designs to support an application to the Development Consent Authority, which will seek approval to proceed with the construction program to develop a new Civic Centre.
We are pleased to announce we are working with DCOH to develop the new Civic Centre. An application will be lodged with the Development Consent Authority (DCA) shortly for the centre’s development. City of Darwin will retain majority ownership of the building, at least 51%.
The new Civic Centre Plaza will be an inviting place for the people of Darwin, where they can visit, connect with others, and engage in community and business activities and events. The new Civic Centre will transform the surrounding area into a welcoming precinct with a community plaza that will have linkages to the city centre, Darwin Waterfront and the new State Square.
The new Civic Centre will feature:
- Enhanced community facilities including a new library with an expanded footprint
- A new Customer Service centre
- New workspaces for staff
- More meeting rooms that can be booked by the community
- A function space with capacity for 300 people; and
- Approximately 400 car parking spaces.
A cool, green community plaza and space for a café will also be included in the development.
The building that you see in the image is a concept design only.
It is proposed that the new Civic Centre be constructed on the car park site next to the current Civic Centre and the existing building, including the library, will remain operational throughout construction.
Construction is expected to commence in the 2025 dry season and completion of the construction is expected in 2028.