RICHMOND — The state government has begun moving out of the James Monroe Building. The Office of the State Inspector General recently relocated to a small office complex on Governor Street called Reid’s Row.
By the spring of 2026, the state expects the 29-story Monroe building to be empty, Banci Tewolde, director of the Department of General Services, told the state’s on Wednesday. General Services handles real estate for the state government.
It’s still not clear what the Virginia government will do with the Monroe Building, which stands at 101 N. 14th St. and towers over Interstate 95. State leaders have said they could tear it down or sell it, but that refurbishing it would be too expensive.
Built in 1981, the Monroe Building is no longer functional. Employees have gotten stuck in elevators, and the restrooms are not compliant with the Americans With Disabilities Act. Some Department of Education employees started relocating last year.
People are also reading…
State leaders have disagreed on where Monroe’s employees should go. Gov. Glenn Youngkin wants agencies to move to privately owned leased spaces in downtown, saying it would lower costs. But members of the General Assembly have preferred building a new structure on state-owned land, claiming new construction would help invest in the city of Richmond and give constituents a single accessible home for state workers.
A study by the Virginia Department of General Services recommended building a new facility at 1401 E. Broad St., at the site of the Virginia Department of Transportation Annex. It would cost between $400 and $500 million and take five years to build, and the study preferred the site over a vacant plot at North Seventh and East Main streets. It’s possible that agencies will move to other short-term locations while the new facility is built.
The state budget that Youngkin signed provides up to $35 million to pay for renovations of state-owned buildings and moving expenses. Some new locations need significant upgrades before an agency can move there, Tewolde said.
Some agencies will move to other state-owned facilities. The Department of Accounts, the Department of Human Resource Management and the Department of Taxation will go to Main Street Centre, a tower at 600 E. Main St. that houses the Virginia Lottery. Those agencies will leave Monroe between this summer and next spring.
The Department of General Services’ Information System Services will go to the Washington Building on Capitol Square, and the Human Resources clinic, which is managed by VCU Health and treats state employees, will relocate to the Madison Building near Capitol Square. The Treasury will move to the Workers’ Compensation Commission building at 333 E. Franklin St.
Other agencies will head to privately owned office buildings downtown in which the state government will rent space. The Department of General Services has not identified the locations yet, because the leases have not been finalized.
Several agencies are expected to move to privately owned, leased spaces – the Auditor of Public Accounts, the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia, the Department of Education, the Department of Small Business and Supplier Diversity, the Department of Veterans Services and the health department’s Pharmacy Services.
The Virginia Department of Transportation previously announced that it will move to the former headquarters of Owens & Minor Co. in Hanover County.
Most of the new offices do not have the conference room space the Monroe Building has. So the state has looked to the Madison Building, the Jefferson Building and Main Street Centre as options to replace the Monroe conference rooms, which held 450 meetings last year. The state might lease other destinations for meeting rooms. State leaders said they will try to keep as many employees in state parking spots as possible.
