The City and Borough of Juneau (CBJ) is transitioning its municipal offices and Assembly Chambers to the Michael J. Burns building at 801 W 10th Street to  ensure that Juneau residents have accessible, efficient access to government services and that the city’s workforce has safe, cost-effective spaces to serve the public. City Hall is currently too small to house CBJ operations under one roof and faces major renovation and repairs estimated at $46 million. Currently, additional CBJ offices are spread throughout the City in private commercial buildings and are subject to increasing lease costs.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.

Following the failure of two bond measures in 2022 and 2023 (for construction of a new, purpose-built City Hall building), CBJ leadership identified the Michael J. Burns building as the most feasible and cost-effective path forward to meet the community’s long-term needs at less than half the cost.

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 from existing facilities into the Burns Building 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.