Icon Ipswich almost a full house as SEQ Water finalise move

THE SEQ Water move from Brisbane to Icon Ipswich is on the verge of completion with 300 staff now calling the new tower their home.

WATER WORKS: Water Supply Minister Mark McArdle (right) and Ipswich MP Ian Berry tour the new SEQ Water offices in Icon Ipswich. Picture: David Nielsen

THE SEQ Water move from Brisbane to Icon Ipswich is on the verge of completion with 300 staff now calling the new tower their home.

The move will be finalised in the coming weeks, with the last 40 staff preparing to make the transition west.

Three months since the first tenants began to move in, the majority of the 1200 public servants have taken up office in the Icon Ipswich tower. Water Supply Minister Mark McArdle and Ipswich MP Ian Berry toured the newly-opened offices for the first time yesterday.

The state-of-the-art offices include spacious meeting rooms with spectacular panoramic views of Ipswich's major landmarks.

The 340 staff takes up two and a half floors of the Icon building, with the first staff moving in a month ago.

Speculation was rife late last year that few staff had put their hands up to move from Queensland Government buildings in Creek and Margaret Streets.

But Mr McArdle commended the SEQ Water board for coordinating the large scale move. He would not reveal the cost of relocating and fitting out the offices.

"There are now 300 people here, getting that organised is always difficult. A move of this nature of a corporation of this size is always going to have complications," he said.

"We now have a major State Government GOC in the region and it will be a bonus, I believe, for both the greater economy for this city, but also across the larger region as well.

The Icon development has long been predicted to kick-start the CBD renewal, and both MPs believe the influx of public servants will bring business back to the Ipswich Mall.

"But the benefit is that there are 300 people here in Ipswich during the day who will spend money here in Ipswich. That figure will grow to 340 in a few weeks time so we will have a boost here to the economy of this region," Mr McArdle said.

"The board have handled this very well. They have done a phenomenal job. They have gotten people from a five-storey complex to a modern facility that allows better communication and better outcomes."

Mr Berry said the Icon Ipswich move is the Queensland Plan in action.

"It tends to bring back to the centre of Ipswich a lot more people. Riverlink did take some people away from us but here it's now refocusing what the city of Ipswich is about."

Originally published as Icon Ipswich almost a full house as SEQ Water finalise move