By Brett Stover
The oft-pilloried Capitol Annex project is 50% complete — and under new management.
Gilbane Building Company is the new owner’s representative for the annex project, according to a new document released Friday. The company has experience in government construction, including the development of the Swing Space building that houses many legislative offices during the transition.
Gilbane replaces the state’s previous representative, MOCA Systems, which had managed the project since 2018. MOCA had experience designing Capitol renovations in other states, according to the new FAQ document released by the Legislature.
MOCA’s contract ended in 2025, and the Legislature’s Joint Rules Committee approved the new management in January.
“As the project is now in the construction phase, Gilbane will manage the construction and oversee the move back into the Annex building,” the document stated.
The Annex building is 50% complete as of December 2025, according to the document, and the state has spent $573.8 million on the project so far.
The Capitol Annex project began in 2016 under then-Gov. Jerry Brown and has continued for the past decade as lawmakers aimed to replace the old building, which was constructed in 1952 and demolished in 2023. But progress on the new building has been slow and surrounded by secrecy — including controversial non-disclosure agreements.
The project is expected to be completed by fall 2027, according to the new document. Gilbane Building Company is expected to issue an updated fiscal outlook early this year, taking litigation costs, inflation and pandemic-era supply chain issues into consideration.
The previous cost estimate for the Annex project was $1.1 billion. In the new document, lawmakers said they are “committed to avoid the use of bond funding to pay for the Annex, which will save taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars in potential interest over the next three decades.”
According to a December letter from the Joint Rules Committee, the Annex’s external structure has been erected and workers are now installing the glass façade, interior wall framing, garage and access road development, along with other infrastructure systems.
