Charter Hall and AFP celebrate the completion of Southern Command headquarters at Wesley Place in the Melbourne CBD

Charter Hall Group (Charter Hall or the Group) and the Australian Federal Police (AFP) today celebrated the completion of the new AFP Southern Command headquarters, a state-of-the-art, purpose-built office building within Wesley Place in the Melbourne CBD.

A ceremony was hosted on site at 155 Little Lonsdale Street by Charter Hall Managing Director and Group CEO, David Harrison, AFP Commissioner Reece Kershaw and Federal Attorney-General The Hon Mark Dreyfus KC MP.

The new building provides AFP employees with a first-class operations facility and modern workplace in the centre of the Melbourne CBD.

Comprised of 23,000 square metres (sqm) of net lettable area across 20 levels, the building will support and enhance the AFP’s operations in Victoria, meeting the evolving needs of federal policing in Victoria and Tasmania.

Mr Harrison said, “Today’s celebration is a result of our long-standing partnership with the AFP and our ability to work closely with our tenant customers to deliver projects that have a positive impact on their people and the community more broadly.

“Since this project was green-lit in the early days of the pandemic, we have partnered with the AFP to bring to life their vision of a modern, technology-enabled workplace that enables the AFP’s important work in keeping Australian communities safe. This building is a bespoke asset that contributes to the vibrancy and culture of Wesley Place and the Melbourne CBD.”

AFP Assistant Commissioner Southern Command, Hilda Sirec, said, “The new AFP headquarters in Melbourne enables the AFP to continue its critical and expanding operations long into the future.

“The AFP is incredibly proud to call 155 Little Lonsdale Street home. This is a purpose-built facility that will enable our law enforcement agency and our partners to execute the critical work and operations we undertake to keep Australians safe. We thank Charter Hall for all of its hard work to make our new home a reality.”

The opening of the Southern Command headquarters marks the completion of the $1.6 billion Wesley Place precinct, which was carefully designed to transform the way people work, connect and socialise.

Wesley Place comprises three premium office buildings, including two brand new buildings and one recently expanded and retrofitted building, that are seamlessly integrated into landscaped grounds and sympathetic restoration of the Wesley Church and four significant heritage buildings. In total, the precinct has delivered 120,000sqm of lettable space, of which 94% is occupied, on an 11,000sqm CBD site that is considered to be an exemplar of precinct development within the Melbourne CBD.