The offices of the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform on St Stephen's Green, Dublin, are to be offered for sale as part of the Government's policy of disposing of surplus properties.
Department personnel are to be transferred to Tipperary town and nine other locations as part of the Government's decentralisation programme.
The six-storey over-basement building, valued at around €40 million, is regarded by many as the ugliest on the Green where it replaced a row of five Georgian houses in the mid-1960s.
It was designed by the professor of architecture at UCD, Prof Desmond FitzGerald, and was nicknamed The Lubianka in the 1970s after the old KGB headquarters in Moscow.
The 7,782 sq m (83,765 sq ft) block will require substantial refurbishment and redevelopment before it can be relet by a new owner.
However, its prime location and the fact that it has an unusually high number of car parking spaces (82) should make it easy for agents Lambert Smith Hampton to find a buyer.
The Minister of State with responsibility for the OPW, Mr Tom Parlon, said last night there was "enormous potential" for redeveloping the building.
Meanwhile, the OPW has got €8.75 million for a period office building occupied by the Revenue Commissioners at 14/16 Lord Edward Street, Dublin 2.
