Marriner S. Eccles Federal Reserve Building Renovation

The Federal Reserve is doing the first comprehensive renovation of its headquarters since the building opened in 1937. The program covers Paul Cret’s Marriner S. Eccles Building and the 1932 Constitution Avenue Building next door, and the combined budget stands at roughly $2.5 billion.

Project Scope

The Eccles Building runs about 276,000 square feet over four above-grade floors. Scope includes asbestos and lead abatement, complete replacement of electrical, plumbing and HVAC systems, and structural upgrades to bring a 1930s frame up to current code. A Balfour Beatty and Gilbane Building Company joint venture holds the construction manager at risk contract. Design is by Fortus, a joint venture of CallisonRTKL and Quinn Evans, with Malcolm Drilling on deep foundations and shoring.

Both buildings sit in the D.C. Inventory of Historic Sites and the Constitution Avenue Building is on the National Register, so the National Capital Planning Commission reviewed the design. Preservation work restores the original natural light shaft above the grand staircase and keeps the historic bronze windows and ornamental grilles. Security requirements are handled with blast-resistant interior storm windows and new sculpted bronze solar-shading fins rather than exterior hardening that would alter the facade.

The budget grew from $1.9 billion to $2.5 billion. The Fed attributes the increase to historic preservation requirements uncovered during design, pandemic-era supply disruption and tariffs on imported materials.

Why It Matters

This is a textbook case of what full-systems replacement costs inside a protected shell. Every mechanical run has to thread through a structure that was designed around 1930s equipment, every penetration is a preservation review, and the abatement sequence dictates the schedule rather than following it. Contractors bidding institutional renovation work on landmarked buildings can read the $1.9 billion to $2.5 billion escalation as a fair estimate of the discovery risk that historic fabric carries.

The funding structure is also unusual. The Federal Reserve pays for its own operations out of securities income and bank assessment fees, so no appropriated dollars are involved and the project schedule does not track a congressional funding cycle.

Project Team & Details