The West Australia Government is on track to save about $25 million a year in office accommodation, with the final tenant about to relocate to Gordon Stephenson House (GSH).

 

Finance Minister Simon O’Brien announced said the consolidation of office accommodation is just one element of this Government’s Accommodation Master Plan.

 

“In March 2009, when Government was seeking to move from the Governor Stirling Tower (GST), it faced projected rental costs of about $750 a square metre for office accommodation in the CBD,” he said.

 

“Under the master planning approach, the government has been able to use its buying power and negotiate significantly lower rent costs, consolidating into fewer offices in the CBD and decentralising to metropolitan offices.

 

“The incentivised net rent for replacement of GST is about $450 a square metre.”

 

Other elements of the plan include; standardising of fit outs; shared meeting, training, telephone and computing facilities; reduction in average work areas from 19sqm to 15sqm.

 

Currently about 5,000 public servants from 17 locations and 22 agencies are being relocated under the plan into GSH; the refurbished government-owned Albert Facey House; Dumas House; several smaller heritage buildings; and the Optima Centre in Osborne Park.

 

The total vacant space across the portfolio managed by the Department of Finance’s Building Management and Works was about 3500 square metres, which represents 0.6 per cent of the portfolio.