El Paso Water's original headquarters building along Hawkins Boulevard is coming down this month, even as the utility has already moved into a new four-story administrative campus built next door near a cluster of shopping centers. The old building's demolition, expected to wrap up in October 2026, closes out a project that has cost roughly $70 million in all, funded by revenue from customers.
According to the El Paso Times, the new headquarters itself carried a construction price tag of $55 million and includes a 146-space parking garage along with extensive landscaping. The paper reports the new building sits right next to the old one, near retail centers, and that El Paso Water — a city government-operated utility — has already opened its doors while the old structure's demolition remains underway.
The new building was designed by San Antonio-based Lake|Flato Architects together with local firm EXIGO Architecture, and according to EXIGO Architecture, the four-story structure spans 79,776 square feet and is built to accommodate roughly 290 employees based on a 10-year growth projection. That's a significant jump in scale from the utility's original 40,000-square-foot home at 1154 Hawkins Boulevard, which was originally built as the El Paso Banking Center and had been occupied by El Paso Water for about 30 years by 2023, according to the Construction Reporter.
A Multi-Year, Three-Phase Build
EXIGO Architecture's project materials describe the overall development unfolding in three distinct phases: Phase 1 built a 79,776-square-foot precast concrete parking garage with approximately 155 spaces, Phase 2 constructed the four-story administration building, and Phase 3 covers site improvements along with demolition of the former office.
The former office's demolition was projected for May 2025.
Desert Landscaping Built Into the Campus
The new headquarters sits on a site designed by Ten Eyck Landscape Architects, incorporating terraced Chihuahuan Desert landscaping, bioswales, native plantings, and microclimate courtyards designed for creative stormwater management and to mitigate the urban heat island effect. It's a design choice that lets the utility model the same water-conscious practices it asks of its own customers.
Who Controls the Purse Strings
El Paso Water is governed by the Public Service Board, a seven-member board of trustees established by El Paso City Ordinance No. 752 in 1952, with complete authority and control over management, operations, and revenues of the city's water system, according to El Paso Water. That independence matters to ratepayers: in January 2025, the board adopted a $956 million annual budget that raised customer water and wastewater rates by 7 percent, marking the 10th consecutive year of rate increases used to fund major capital projects across the city, as reported by KTEP.
The headquarters project is a small piece of a much larger system that includes water and wastewater operations.
Part of a Broader Infrastructure Push
The headquarters overhaul lands alongside other El Paso Water capital projects and initiatives across the city. El Paso Water has also continued asking customers to shoulder the bill through consecutive rate hikes.
