Downtown Richmond is getting a new state office building

State of play: This month, the Department of General Services shared plans for the new building that will go at East Broad and 14th Streets and serve the workers who will be displaced when nearby Monroe closes.

• The state deemed the 29-story Monroe Building non-functional last January (the bathrooms aren't ADA compliant and workers get stuck in the elevators).
• The plans also bring to a close two years of debate over building more state-owned office space in downtown Richmond.
• (The Democratic-controlled state legislature was pro-new building, Gov. Youngkin's administration was against it).

Zoom in: The new building will be built at 1401 E. Broad St., on the site of the current Virginia Department of Transportation Annex, the Times-Dispatch reported.

• That's the last building on your right before the 95 exit if you're heading east on Broad and into Church Hill.
• The site was selected by a DGS work group due to its proximity to the state capitol and ability to accommodate office space, plus conference rooms and at least 800 parking spaces.
• DGS left it to the General Assembly to hash out the design and size details for the new building during session, but estimates it'll cost in the mid-$400 million range.

Of note: All-new construction of a roughly 316,000-square-foot building would cost about the same as renovating the 192,000-square-foot VDOT Annex, DGS found — and the smaller building wouldn't be able to meet the state's needs.

What's next: DGS estimates a 2-year design phase and 3 years for construction.

• The General Assembly will also decide whether the state should sell, demolish or "mothball" Monroe.