$27M price tag: Take a look inside new Pierce County Council chambers
Tuesday was the last night the Pierce County Council held meetings in the County-City Building downtown. Starting this week, the council will move into a new building half a mile down the street at 1501 Market St.
Upon a tour Wednesday, The News Tribune saw the new larger council chambers, council members’ offices and the county executive’s office.
The public will no longer have to take an elevator to the 10th floor to attend council meetings. In the new building, the council chambers are on the first floor right by the main entrance. The new chambers have more seating and a nearby overflow area. Technology upgrades mean those tuning in to meetings remotely will have better video and audio quality starting next week, said council communications manager Bryan Dominique.
Residents can park for free in the lot across the street, but there will be less free parking than visitors were accustomed to at the County-City Building, Dominique said. There are 105 free parking stalls, he said. Visitors also will not have to go through an extensive security screening, as is the case with the County-City Building, which includes numerous courtrooms, he said.
As previously reported by The News Tribune, the county approved the purchase of the five-story building for $27 million in 2023 as part of a $50 million bond.
A growth study predicted the 64-year-old County-City Building would not be able to accommodate the increased needs for court- and justice-related services in the next 20 years, as previously reported by The News Tribune. The idea is to shift county departments like the county council, executive’s office, communications, finance, IT, risk management, economic development, facilities and human resources into this building, so that the old County-City Building can become the new Pierce County Justice Center with more justice-related departments and courtrooms, director of Facilities Management Karl Imlig previously told The News Tribune.
Executive Ryan Mello moved into the 1501 Market St. building at the start of his term in 2025. On Wednesday, he showed The News Tribune his office on the third floor, which has a breathtaking view of the Tacoma Dome and on clear days, Mount Rainier.
This story was originally published March 9, 2026 at 5:00 AM.
