U.S. Federal Courthouse — Flagstaff, Arizona

Northern Arizona is getting its own federal courthouse, which ends a long-standing arrangement where litigants, jurors and counsel drove two to five hours to Phoenix for a hearing. The $70 million, 50,777-square-foot building on Route 66 is under construction and could start hearing cases as soon as March 2027.

The delivery model is the interesting part. Easterly Government Properties is developing the building and leasing it long-term to the General Services Administration rather than GSA funding construction directly.

Project Scope

Shive-Hattery designed the three-story, steel-framed building, clad in natural stone. It meets GSA Level III security requirements and applies Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design principles, which on a courthouse means controlling sightlines and approach distances through site design rather than bollards alone.

Courthouses run three separate circulation systems that can never cross: public, judicial and prisoner. That drives the plan more than program area does. This building includes secure underground parking for judges and U.S. Marshals plus a sallyport for prisoner transport, so detainees move from vehicle to holding to courtroom without entering public space.

The project targets LEED Silver and net zero energy performance. On a building with this much secure, windowless program, net zero is a mechanical and envelope problem rather than a solar problem, and Flagstaff’s 7,000-foot elevation produces heating loads most Arizona projects never see.

The general contractor hasn’t been publicly identified.

Why It Matters

Build-to-suit leaseback has become the default path for federal courthouses when direct appropriations aren’t there. GSA gets a purpose-built facility without a capital request, and a REIT takes construction risk in exchange for a long-term government tenant. Whether that’s cheaper across a 20-year term is genuinely disputed, but it’s faster, and speed is why it keeps getting used.

For contractors, these jobs behave like private work with federal criteria bolted on. The developer signs the contract, but GSA writes the security requirements, and those don’t flex.

Project Team & Details