Gaithersburg officials marked the start of construction on a new municipal building in Olde Towne last Friday, a project meant to finally give the city's growing workforce room to breathe after decades crammed into a converted estate house. Mayor Jud Ashman joined city council members, staff and project partners for the groundbreaking at 12 South Summit Avenue, where crews are now erecting the facility the city says is needed to replace an administrative building that has barely changed size since the Reagan administration.
The city describes the new structure as a 65,000-square-foot municipal building, according to the City of Gaithersburg. A council-focused account from Gburgnews describes the building at 12 South Summit as 66,000 square feet, more than double the size of the current City Hall.
Whatever its final footprint, the building is expected to house 158 employees across seven departments and consolidate operations currently spread across four buildings, per the city. The new facility will sit alongside the police station and council chambers at 16 South Summit Avenue, part of what officials describe as a plan to consolidate city operations into a unified Olde Towne campus, as reported by The MoCo Show.
A Price Tag That Keeps Climbing
The project's cost has grown substantially since it first appeared in city budget documents. The FY25 capital improvement plan projected $23.5 million in cumulative spending from FY24 through FY29, according to the City of Gaithersburg's own budget materials. By May 4, the council had unanimously adopted a total project cost of $36.1 million — a 54 percent jump from that original $23.5 million figure, the same budget review found.
The spending didn't stop there. On October 19, the city council voted 5-0 to let the city manager amend a construction contract with Plano Cowden LLC, according to the same account. That amendment takes Plano Cowden's original $97,000 contract to nearly $25 million, the outlet reported — a figure tied to construction management services rather than the project's full cost. The city previously purchased 8 and 12 South Summit Avenue in fiscal year 2024 for approximately $7 million, per the same source.
Why The Old City Hall Had To Go
The current City Hall at 31 South Summit Avenue has served as Gaithersburg's municipal offices for more than 60 years, after the city purchased the estate in 1958 and converted the home into offices that year. Before that, the property had a different claim to fame: in 1913, Edward P. Schwartz created a nationally known peony garden there that drew visitors from around the country, including President Woodrow Wilson, according to The MoCo Show.
That history hasn't kept pace with the city's growth. The building has remained at 27,393 square feet since 1989, even as Gaithersburg's workforce has grown 165 percent in that time, the budget review found. City Manager Tanisha Briley said when the city first announced plans to acquire the Olde Towne property that the new location would give the city the opportunity to modernize our workspace and meet the needs of our growing team and community, per an earlier report from The MoCo Show. That acquisition was intended to let the city co-locate various public-facing services that are currently spread throughout various facilities, the outlet reported at the time.
What's Planned Inside The New Building
The new municipal building is expected to include offices and collaborative workspaces, upgraded accessibility features, modern security systems and enhanced technology, according to The MoCo Show's reporting on the groundbreaking. Plans also call for an outdoor plaza with seating and public art, along with energy-efficient systems, improved ventilation and other green building practices meant to reduce the building's environmental footprint.
At the groundbreaking, Ashman said the project celebrates a shared accomplishment and begins an exciting transformation for the city organization. He added that the project invests in the workforce, improves service delivery and strengthens ties with Gaithersburg residents, according to the same account. City officials have cited city growth and the need for a modern, collaborative workplace as the driving reasons behind the new facility.
Timeline And Unanswered Questions
Construction on the new building is expected to take approximately 14 months, with substantial completion and occupancy anticipated in early 2028, per reporting on the groundbreaking event. That differs somewhat from an earlier staff estimate, reported by Gburgnews, that construction would begin in late summer 2026 and finish by the end of calendar year 2027. The city has not clarified what accounts for the shift in the projected finish date.
The Olde Towne Plaza sits in Gaithersburg's original central business district, adjacent to the historic B&O Railroad Station and Freight Shed, both listed on the National Register of Historic Places, according to the City of Gaithersburg. As a debt-free municipality, the city has said it must regularly review planned capital expenditures and set aside funding for future needs — a standard the new building's rising price tag will test in the years ahead as construction gets underway in the heart of Olde Towne.
