Designs unveiled for new $400M state government office building downtown

A rendering of the proposed new state office building at 1401 E. Broad St. (State documents)

The state government recently gave a glimpse of its vision for a new downtown office tower.

Last month the Virginia Department of General Services presented designs for a 316,000-square-foot office that’s proposed for 1401 E. Broad St., where the 15-floor Virginia Department of Transportation Annex office currently stands. 

The new building, should it come to fruition, would effectively replace the James Monroe Building at 101 N. 14th St., where a number of state agencies, including the Virginia Department of Education and the state Treasury, reside.

The Monroe Building, which is currently the city’s tallest building, was built in the late 1970s and has myriad issues relating to safety, Americans with Disabilities Act compliance and general design inefficiency. 

With those deficiencies in mind, DGS began reconsidering the state’s office needs about four years ago, but the plans to vacate the Monroe Building were caught in a back-and-forth between Gov. Glenn Youngkin and the General Assembly throughout much of the last few years.

In 2023 Youngkin had proposed moving many state offices out of downtown and into private spaces in the suburbs, rather than building anew downtown. But a DGS study last year ultimately pointed toward the state needing a new office building downtown, per a Times-Dispatch report.

The existing VDOT Annex office would be razed. (Mike Platania photos)

The fate of the Monroe Building – and a potential new tower – remains unclear for now.

In presenting the plans for the new building to the Virginia House of Delegates’ Appropriations committee last month, DGS Director Banci Tewolde said that the decision over the Monroe Building is ultimately up to the General Assembly and that options could be to demolish it, mothball it or declare it surplus and sell it. The building sits on 3 acres and was most recently assessed by the city at $78 million. 

Tewolde said the new office building would accommodate all the state’s necessary office and swing space as well as over 800 parking spaces. Its cost is estimated to surpass $400 million. The state agencies currently based in the Monroe Building would temporarily relocate to other state buildings while the new office is built, or lease space elsewhere. 

The state is also considering selling a vacant plot it owns at 7th and Main streets downtown.

The state had initially considered building a new office at the site of the now-demolished Virginia Employment Commission office at 703 E. Main St., but a study the state commissioned last year led them to the VDOT Annex site instead. 

Tewolde told the committee that Youngkin has proposed to sell 703 E. Main St. and transfer the proceeds to the state’s general fund. The vacant 1.25-acre site abuts a Dominion Energy office tower that’s set to be converted into hundreds of hotel rooms and apartments. 

Tewolde, who was appointed by Youngkin last summer to lead DGS, declined an interview request. 

The office project comes as the state is going through a broader master-planning process of the 46-acre Capitol Square area. Tewolde, through a spokesperson, said there is no update available on that process. 

Another state-led real estate project also made progress in recent days. 

Last week the state’s Art and Architectural Review Board (AARB) voted to approve preliminary plans for the new Commonwealth Courts Building proposed for 900-908 E. Main St. 

The new courts building would replace the entire Pocahontas Building complex along Main Street with a new, 300,000-square-foot structure that’d house both the Supreme Court of Virginia and the Virginia Court of Appeals. Last summer the AARB voted to approve demolishing the roughly 100-year-old West Tower of the Pocahontas Building to make way for the new, 13-story courts building. 

Local architecture firm Baskervill is leading the design of the new courts building with D.C.’s Fentress Architects, and representatives from both firms provided the AARB a first-look at the Commonwealth Courts Building at last week’s meeting. After some deliberation, the AARB voted to approve the preliminary design. 

Demolition of the Pocahontas Building is planned to begin in late 2025. 

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