Providing Juneau residents with accessible, efficient government services and ensuring the city’s workforce has safe, functional spaces to serve the public are foundational priorities for the City and Borough of Juneau (CBJ). Transitioning municipal offices into the Michael J. Burns building reflects that commitment — consolidating city operations into a single facility that provides safe and comfortable working conditions for employees, improves public accessibility, and reduces costs associated with the current multi-building leasing arrangement. This approach emerged following the rejection of two bond measures in 2022 and 2023 (for construction of a new City Hall building), through which CBJ leadership identified the Michael J. Burns building as the most feasible path forward for meeting the community’s long-term needs.

The Burns Building emerged as the preferred option  in early 2024 after an open invitation for local property owners to submit spaces for consideration. Of three candidate sites evaluated — the Michael J. Burns Building, the Marie Drake Building, and Floyd Dryden Middle School — the Burns Building was deemed most immediately suitable and cost-effective for municipal government operations due to several considerations:

• Most cost-effective for consolidating municipal offices, allowing CBJ to move out of leased spaces with increasing costs
• Larger space for new Assembly Chambers, increasing the public’s ability to interface with elected officials
• Accessible space for a large public counter, connecting public with every-day services more effectively
• Most cost-effective to retrofit for municipal office functions (i.e. lowest renovation costs)
• Cost-efficiency of facility ownership, with significant annual operational savings with cumulative costs savings (breakeven) within 12 years.

In November 2024, the Assembly approved  purchasing the two floors of the Burns Building for use as the new CBJ Municipal Building facility. The plan structured the arrangement as a condominium association, with CBJ purchasing the first two floors and parking spaces while the Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation retained the top floor.

In September 2025, the Juneau Assembly formally approved the purchase. The new building plans prioritize public accessibility and services with the new Assembly Chambers being 3,530 square feet (versus 1,929 in the current City Hall), a larger public counter to better receive and direct inquiries, functioning as a one-stop-shop for residents to interface meaningfully with their municipal government.

CBJ anticipates moving facilities in fiscal year 2027.  The Assembly is currently considering sale options for the existing City Hall at 155 Heritage Way — a two-story, 21,884-square-foot building built in the 1950s.