The Juneau Assembly will decide the fate of its current City Hall building at its meeting on Monday night.
There are two ordinances related to City Hall on the agenda: one would put the building up for sale at a minimum $2.5 million bid, and another would instead allow the city to sell it directly to its neighbor, Sealaska Heritage Institute. The Assembly will take public testimony and decide which one to move forward with.
The decision comes as the city looks to move its staff to a new location in the near future. In 2025, the Assembly approved purchasing two floors of the Michael J. Burns building to become Juneau’s new City Hall location after renovations. The building houses the Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation downtown.
That’s despite Juneau residents voting down building a new City Hall two years in a row during recent municipal elections. The move to the Michael J. Burns building is estimated to cost at least $20 million. The sale of Juneau’s current City Hall will help recoup some of the costs of moving to the new location.
Sealaska Heritage Institute, whose mission is to uplift Lingít, Haida and Ts’msyen cultures of Southeast Alaska, has publicly shared interest in buying the site. The nonprofit has shared proposed plans to tear down City Hall and build a new mixed-use arts and cultural tourism facility at the site. The nonprofit estimates the new facility could cost up to $40 million to construct, and would bring both revenue and jobs to downtown.
But some Assembly members have expressed hesitancy about selling directly to SHI compared to putting it up for bid. That’s because SHI has only offered $1.5 million for it, which is $1 million less than the minimum bid some Assembly members want to sell it for. There’s also concern about whether the location would be subject to property taxes.
SHI does not pay local property taxes in Juneau because it is a tax-exempt nonprofit, except if SHI leases space to a for-profit business, according to city officials.
That decision, and several other ordinances, will be discussed at the meeting.
Juneau residents can testify on ordinances on Monday’s agenda – as well as on non-agenda items – in person or online before the Assembly votes. People who want to testify online must notify the city clerk by 4 p.m. before the meeting. The meeting begins at 6 p.m. at City Hall.
