Artist's impression of the new ACT court facilities.
A major overhaul of the city's legal precinct is a step closer after the ACT government announced $1.8 million start to the procurement process.
The announcement means the new precinct is expected to be operational in about four years.
It will link the neighbouring supreme and magistrates court buildings with parts of the existing marble facade to be retained and the interior gutted and expanded.
The cash injection will be used to put together a team to manage the territory's first public-private partnership.
Part of the funds will be allocated to an infrastructure finance and advisory unit, within the ACT Chief Minister and Treasury Directorate, which will advise on other PPPs.
ACT Treasurer Andrew Barr said the search for a project director and advisers, including commercial and legal specialists, had started.
The rest of the team would be drawn from existing staff at the Justice and Community Safety, Commerce and Works and Chief Minister and Treasury directorates. Mr Barr said he expected the team would be fully staffed by early May.
The procurement process was expected to begin with an industry briefing in April.
Mr Barr said an expression of interest process would follow in the second half of this year, alongside the development of a request for the proposal tender process.
Mr Barr said compared with traditional procurement methods, PPPs could deliver an estimated cost savings of 11.4 per cent.
''The PPP framework is aimed at engaging the private sector to help deliver major infrastructure projects and help ensure major projects are completed on time and on budget,'' Mr Barr said.
ACT Attorney-General Simon Corbell said the new legal hub could include eight courtrooms, five of which could handle a jury trial, an expanded single custodial facility, best-practice child and protected witness facilities, a single public entry point and a separate jury reception and orientation area.
''The development … will address the functional and operational limitations of the existing building and ultimately improve access to justice and assist performance against court hearing time benchmarks,'' Mr Corbell said. Michael Inman
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