The Nellie Hamilton Centre is Queanbeyan Council’s head office building on Crawford Street. Photo: Kazuri Photography.
A $5 million early loan repayment has been endorsed by a southern NSW council following its review of how to manage a major part of its property portfolio.
At a recent meeting, Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Council (QPRC) agreed to make the loan repayment on the Nellie Hamilton Centre (NHC).
It comes after a review into how the council could increase the facility’s value.
Councillor Bryce Wilison called for his fellow councillors to support ‘Option 5’ (which includes the early repayment and ongoing ownership).
He said it was important that the council move to pay down its debt.
“It [the NHC] has helped enliven this area … But it was not cheap – we’re on the hook.
“We’ve got a couple of lease agreements that are running a long time, and they’re gonna take time to come to fruition and start being a benefit.”
Construction started in late 2021 on the Queanbeyan Civic and Cultural Precinct, which includes the NHC as the council’s head office building.
Before the precinct was completed, Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Council (QPRC) staff were housed in 11 buildings across the CBD.
But councillor Ross Macdonald said the NHC project had become the “white elephant of Queanbeyan”, rather than being an “outright net” positive.
He said the COVID-19 pandemic and current fuel pressures had combined to make office spaces “less desirable”.
“The world changed post business case … and it meant that what otherwise was a premium setting was no longer desirable by private firms and by government.”
Council meeting papers state the review considered a series of options for the precinct’s future, which evaluated different combinations of factors such as selling, keeping ownership, seeking external property management and refinancing.
It was recommended to councillors that they go with Option 5.
Councillor Morgan Broadbent failed to win support for his motion to defer a decision.
He said councillors needed extra information around property management and other associated costs before they decided.
“Essentially, the idea is: here is in front of us, we have a whole bunch of assessment considerations or factors that were looked at as part of this report, but within those assessment factors … there are some gaps.”
Cr Wilison spoke against the amendment, saying that while factors such as interest rates remained out of the council’s control, they still needed to push ahead with a decision.
“We are where we are. … I can’t see any reason why we defer this.
“If in 6-12 months … things change, the market picks up or whatever, you can bring this forward as a notice [at] any time.”
The need to respond to current market circumstances was echoed by councillor Katrina Willis.
“The commercial property market has gone in a hole … I can’t see anything on the near horizon to indicate that’s going to change.”
She also said there was value in having council staff housed in the NHC.
“I don’t know anywhere else in Queanbeyan that could accommodate all our staff – we’re not going to send them to work at the airport.”
The vote means QPRC is set to make the early repayment in 2027, and also keep the council’s ownership of and tenancy in the NHC.
Earlier this year, an internal audit gave the council a mixed grade over how it handled the build.
It found QPRC had issues with outsourced project management and an outdated cost-benefit analysis, but also praised the council’s engagement with stakeholders during and after the project.
