Last Friday the Andrews Labor Government announced the appointment of Kane Nicholson to deliver the $100 million Ballarat GovHub project.
The Kane Nicholson JV will team up with architects Wardle and engineering consultants AECOM to complete the design and build of the $100 million multi use office development in the Northern end of Ballarat's central business district.
The new GovHub offices will house 1000 government staff from 2021. The two year build will see the tearing down of the lower hall and construction of a new multi-storey office block from mass timber.
Construction will start in January next year and is expected to be completed by December 2020 with the first staff to move into the hub the following January.
Minister for Regional Development Jaala Pulford said it was a major transformation in the city hall site which had not been filling its potential.
“We will have a total of 1000 public servants and the total cost of the project will be in the vicinity of $100 million, projects in this community do not get any bigger than this,” she said.
“Nicholson Construction has very deep roots in this community and indeed have a beautiful multi-generational family history with this site and this type of work. “Kane Constructions is an award winning company and this will be a wonderful partnership.”
Ms Pulford said as well as construction jobs, a further nine apprenticeships will be offered. She said during peak construction phase, 250 people would be on-site and another 250 involved in the supply chain.
