Raleigh will break ground on new 17-story downtown city hall

The city of Raleigh breaks ground Tuesday on a new 370,000-square-foot downtown city hall that will house offices and conference facilities for the city council and various municipal departments under one roof.

Why it matters: At 17 stories, the new East Civic Tower will add to Raleigh's growing skyline . Construction of the $206 million office tower comes as Raleigh tries to revive its prepandemic downtown vibrancy.

Between the lines: The tower is taking the place of the old police headquarters (110 S. McDowell St.), which was torn down earlier this year, the News & Observer reported .

Other features of the new city hall include:

• A council chamber
• A health center for staff
• An art gallery space

What's next: Project completion is expected by the end of 2026, and city staffers will move into the building in 2027, a city of Raleigh spokesperson told Axios.

What they're saying: "The new building will allow us to consolidate most of our downtown workforce from multiple office buildings, to offer the public convenient, efficient, customer-focused services in one central location," the city said in a statement .

• Currently, Raleigh has 4,000 full-time employees spread out in buildings across the city, per the N&O.

Take a look at what the new tower will look like. Renderings are by the project designer, Ratio Design, and courtesy of the city.