Move to new City Hall will take longer than planned, as Assembly weighs two sale options for current building

Relocation to Michael J. Burns Building expected next May rather than end of this year; public input sought on either open auction or direct sale to SHI of existing City Hall

The Michael J. Burns Building, where the first two floors are set to become Juneau’s new City Hall, on Monday, July 13, 2026. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Independent)

By Mark Sabbatini

Juneau Independent

Moving to a new City Hall space is likely to happen next spring rather than at the end of this year, Juneau Assembly members were told Monday night. In the meantime, city leaders plan to get the public’s input on what should be done with the existing City Hall building.

The new space will be the first two floors of the Michael J. Burns Building — which is commonly associated with the Alaska Permanent Fund Corp. on the top floor, due to prominent signs out front — with a contractor to renovate the space scheduled to be selected by the Assembly at its July 27 meeting.

City Manager Katie Koester, during an Assembly Committee of the Whole meeting at the existing City Hall, said officials now expect the Burns building renovations to be completed next May, so municipal employees and operations will have to remain in their current spaces longer than planned.

"We are not going to be able to move out of the Marine View Building or this building by the end of the calendar year, as we originally hoped," she said. "So we have entered into an additional six-month lease with Marine View."

The project is still within the roughly $20.5 million budget approved by the Assembly in January, Koester said. However, bids submitted for the contract the Assembly is set to award this month may impact the bottom line and the new owners of the Marine View Building "raised the rent substantially" for the city to remain in its space for another six months.

The existing cost estimate includes some funds for contingencies and adjustments are possible to some aspects of the project, she said. In response to a question from Mayor Beth Weldon about 1% of the $8.5 million renovation budget being set aside for art, for instance, Koester said that is a requirement in city code, but the Assembly could vote to exempt the project from that requirement.

Relocation of City Hall has been sought for several years by Assembly members who say more than $14 million in maintenance needed at the existing building — originally built in 1951 and renovated in the 1970s — plus lease payments for additional space will be more costly than moving to a single new location. Voters twice rejected bond measures for a new building projected to cost $43 million, resulting in city leaders looking at existing sites and ultimately agreeing to purchase two floors of the Burns building.

While the two floors purchased by the city were previously used as offices, structural changes such as removing walls are needed to make the space suitable for certain municipal government operations — including where a new Assembly Chambers for public meetings might be located, Deputy City Manager Robert Barr said during Monday’s meeting.

Assembly seeks input on two options for selling current City Hall

The existing City Hall may be an old building needing much repair. But it’s also a two-story, 21,884-square-foot building on a quarter-acre lot of prime land across the street from the downtown cruise dock.

Two different sale options were discussed Monday by Assembly members, who decided both of them should be put before residents to see what they say.

One option would offer City Hall in a sealed-bid auction, with a minimum bid of $2.5 million. A proposal initiated by Mayor Beth Weldon to raise the minimum bid to $5 million failed by a 4-4 vote.

The other option is a negotiated sale to Sealaska Heritage Institute, which is offering $1.5 million for the building. SHI also states it is willing to lease the second floor of the building back to the city to use as a relocated Juneau-Douglas City Museum.

The existing museum during the past week scaled back its staff and operating hours due to budget cuts. Koester, in a memo to the Assembly, stated that if SHI offers the City Hall space at market rates "it is difficult to imagine a scenario where CBJ is able to recoup personnel and lease costs in ticket sales, regardless of location."

Ordinances for each of those options are scheduled to be introduced at the Assembly’s July 27, with a public hearing occurring at an Assembly meeting in August.

• Contact Mark Sabbatini at editor@juneauindependent.com or (907) 957-2306.