While the purchase has yet to be finalized, Tumwater city councilors approved entering a purchase and sale option agreement for a new building to repurpose for a new city hall during their regular meeting on Tuesday, June 2, at the current Tumwater City Hall.
The current city hall is located at 555 Israel Road SW, and the new location, if the council does ultimately move forward with purchasing the building, will be about a quarter of a mile east at 310 Israel Road SE.
Entering into the option agreement cost the city $100,000, which is non-refundable, but guaranteed a purchase price for the property and building based on a 2023 appraisal, which valued the property with a 95,000-square-foot, three-story building at $15,580,000, according to Tumwater City Administrator Paul Simmons.
According to the Thurston County Assessor’s parcel website, the building and property — which totals 3.43 acres — have a combined appraised value of $24,505,800 for the 2026 tax year.
Simmons added securing the $15 million price tag gave him and city finance staff enough time to ensure the city can afford to actually purchase the building as they work out Tumwater’s 2027 budget.
“So, if we were to move forward, we have a predictable price, which is important for planning during our financial analysis,” Simmons said.
City staff have been looking for a newer city hall building as the city staff has long outgrown the current building, with some departments already having been forced to lease office space at other locations.
Should the council ultimately move forward with the purchase of the new building, which used to house the Washington state Department of Health, the old city hall building will be given to the Tumwater Police Department and Tumwater Fire Department to utilize.
The council came to the solution of purchasing an existing building after considering other options, including construction of an entirely new city hall, which all had much higher price tags.
The current city hall was constructed in 1987.
