The Building

The City of Aspen is constructing new administrative offices to improve the efficiency and availability of local government to the Aspen community. The site for the new City office building is located between Rio Grande Place and Galena Plaza.  The new building will add to a civic common that consists of Pitkin County government buildings, Pitkin County Library, and the Aspen Police Department. The city office complex will enhance the corridor connecting the downtown core to Rio Grande Park and the John Denver Sanctuary.

The three-story, approximately 39,000 sq. ft. building designed by local architect Charles Cunniffe integrates bold structural elements and a featured glass rotunda welcoming community use. City offices can be accessed from two entries with enhanced green spaces around the physical building. Other features include, elevator and grand staircase, integrated use of natural materials for exterior finishes and community meeting space for public use. Current design standards call for a “LEED gold project”, with a Council decision still pending for the pursuit of a net zero carbon emissions facility.  

Building of the new offices signifies the culmination of over six-years of planning for new City facilities that will meet the service needs of Aspen’s residents, customers, and visitors as well as provide appropriate work space for City employees.   Currently, the City has multiple leases for offices scattered within the City core and beyond. The construction of this new facility will allow the City to reduce its externally leased spaces, reduce taxpayers’ expenses by building on land it owns, consolidate services in downtown Aspen, and improve existing facilities.  The result will allow for better public service, business processes, and will address accessibility issues.

In November 2018 City of Aspen voters elected to locate new city offices at 425 Rio Grande Place.  

Shaw Construction is the general contractor and the building is anticipated to be complete by summer of 2021.

The Project

The work beginning on the Rio Grande site in February 2019 marks the start of the two-year construction process.

In addition to Shaw Construction, our partners include Charles Cunniffe Architects, PR Studio, and Concept One Group.

Construction activities will take place between the hours of 7:30am and 5:30pm Monday through Friday and on Saturday as needed from 9am – 5pm.

The project timeline is expected to be as follows, with work continuous on the site from February 2019 through early 2021:
Phase 1 – Site Preparation and Demolition – February 2019-April 2019
Phase 2 – Utilities and Foundation – April 2019 – mid-June 2019 with minor follow-up work being done during the off season in the fall
Phase 3 -Vertical Construction – June 2019 – early 2021

The expected completion is early 2021.