Building a new Alabama State House will cost around $325 million, according to Retirement Systems of Alabama (RSA) CEO David Bronner.
Members of the Legislative Council approved contracting with the Retirement Systems of Alabama (RSA) in September to design and build a new State House.
The project costs would be reimbursed to the RSA from the state with an 8% administrative fee added on. The state could either buy the property from the RSA after its completion or enter into a 25-year lease agreement that would eventually also make the state the property owner.
The new State House will be located behind the old one. Foundation and site work is already being accomplished. The old State House will eventually be demolished and replaced with a green space area.
The current State House opened in 1963 as the Alabama Highway Department Building. It housed the Alabama Department of Transportation, then known as the Alabama State Highway Department, until 1985 when the Alabama Legislature moved in.
"We basically will have concrete on the project next month. We're moving along with that. It's mimicked basically after Virginia," Bronner said at an RSA meeting on Tuesday.
The project is expected to be completed by the beginning of 2027.
"We basically agreed on the number for this building and I asked the board to sign documentation that says it's $350 million but that isn't where we want to be. Where we want to be is between $300 million and $325 million. For everything on my part of it. That includes the parking deck inside the building and all that stuff on that whole square block. We're looking at a number of $300 million to $325 million," Bronner said. "It's going to be a little bigger (cost) because it's sprawled out a little more than the revenue building, but it's basically the same price."
Bronner said the budget estimate is solely for constructing the new State House and not for other project costs, such as demolishing the old State House and establishing the green space area.
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