Is this the biggest eyesore in Canberra?

Curious Canberran Judy Diamond certainly thinks so and she doesn't mince her words:

"The building is decaying, derelict. It's a wasteland, like something out of Syria," she said.

Judy is a public servant and remembers her last day working in the Alexander and Albemarle buildings in Woden.

It was eight years ago — and the buildings have been abandoned ever since.

These days the towers, connected by a low-level structure, stand in stark contrast to the newer office buildings surrounding them.

Almost no windows are left (after being smashed by vandals) and the boarded-up buildings are covered with graffiti.

Judy asked Curious Canberra to find out why the buildings have been left dilapidated since 2010 and about the safety risks, with teenagers often spotted trespassing at the fenced-off site.

On the day I went to see the buildings for myself and take photos, I caught glimpses of three teenage boys running around inside — two still in their school uniforms.

"It's a real security problem and I believe it's just a matter of time before there's a death or a really bad accident," Judy said.

Abandoned buildings a playground for 'urban explorers'

One of the teenage boys running between the abandoned buildings. ( ABC News: Elise Pianegonda )

Soon after Health Department staff vacated the building, ACT police officers temporarily took over the space.

I was told abandoned buildings "offer a realistic training environment" to conduct drills in case of any real-life emergency at an office block or government department.

That didn't last long and since then the buildings have sat uninhabited — apart from self-titled "urban explorers" and amateur graffiti artists.

A quick YouTube search turned up a video from user UrbexRat (urbex is short for urban exploration) filming himself and other teenagers inside and on top of the Woden buildings.

Sorry, this video has expired UrbexRat explores the Alexander and Albemarle buildings

It's scary viewing, with UrbexRat walking along the edge of the building's roof and dangling his feet off the edge.

It also required some editing by the ABC — as the original soundtrack was not suitable to be embedded on this site.

ACT police told me in the past two years they have been called to the buildings numerous times, mostly for trespass, property damage and theft.

They also said that was in addition to private security patrols organised by Doma Group, the current owners.

Original plan for more office space abandoned

The buildings now sit in stark contrast to the newer office blocks around them. ( ABC News: Elise Pianegonda )

Developer Doma Group purchased the site back in 2010.

According to the ACT's Planning Directorate, a year later they submitted a development application (DA) for two 11-storey office buildings with an interconnected 5-storey pavilion.

The DA was approved, but that approval was never acted on.

Doma Group managing director Jure Domazet said the ACT Government had made reusing the site for office space financially unviable.

He said the territory government has created a "weak" market for offices in Woden and changes to legislation, particularly the lease variation charge, "discourage the redevelopment of large, old office buildings".

But he told me the group was expecting to lodge a new DA "in the first half of this year" for a residential complex.

The buildings have been ransacked and damaged, with almost all the windows shattered. ( ABC News: Elise Pianegonda )

Curious Canberran Judy, was not that happy with his answer, saying the buildings were "hideous".

"I've been hearing since I still worked there that it was going to become residential and maybe back then it could still be salvaged, but you can't do that now. It's too decayed," she said.

Instead Judy wanted to know why the ACT Government was not able to step in and force Doma Group to develop the site.

She said the same rules should apply to developers as do to individuals when they buy a block of land.

"If you're a private citizen building a house you have a certain amount of time to begin that development," she said.

"I can't see why the Government can't say 'look something's got to be done about this and this is the time frame we're giving you [or] there will be consequences'."

Government's hands are tied

The laws around trespassing are complex, but the Government says if someone was injured on site the responsibility would fall to Doma Group. ( ABC News: Elise Pianegonda )

ACT Urban Renewal Minister Mick Gentleman admitted that once the land was sold, they could only ensure that any development that went ahead was appropriate.

He said the Government did not have control over how long buildings sat empty.

And there's no recourse for allowing a development application to lapse, apart from having to re-apply for a new one.

"Many of these applications take some time because the proponents are trying to lodge their DA with an economic model that gives them at least some return in the end," Mr Gentleman said.

Teenagers use crates and other strategically placed objects to climb the security fence. ( ABC News: Elise Pianegonda )

The Alexander and Albemarle buildings are not the only things leading to a sense of urban decay in Woden.

But Mr Gentleman hopes a master plan, which is in the works, will lead to renewal.

"We're thinking more holistically, not just about buildings, but how people can live there in the future, and I think it's going to be quite an exciting place," he said.

Though, Curious Canberran Judy still thinks the best way to begin the renewal process is demolishing the Alexander and Albemarle buildings.

"In 2018 this should never happen, they've got absolutely no excuse to have run-down buildings in this state," she said.

"I think what the local residents would like is that they demolish the buildings, put some parkland there and just leave it until such a time that they want or can do something with it."