New City Hall Fact Sheet

The new San José City Hall is a landmark building that reflects the City's stature as one of the country's major cities and the pride and stature of our community. It stands as a symbol of our city's cultural and historical roots as well as its technological savvy. More importantly, the new facility brings City services together, resulting in better customer service for our residents and businesses.

The building features a One-Start Customer Service Center , where customers can pay bills, apply for permits, or obtain business licenses at one convenient location. City Hall also includes a public plaza and rotunda for community events and celebrations. More than a building, the new San José City Hall represents our commitment to efficiency, service, and pride.

One-Start Customer Service Center: Located on the lower floors of the City Hall Tower, the Customer Service Center provides efficient customer service by bringing many City operations together at the same public counter, and allows customers to easily access frequently used services including planning, building, and other permits. A customer information desk, self-service stations, waiting areas and a centralized cashier are also included on the first level.


Rotunda Dome: The glass-domed rotunda is a public gallery space stretching 110 feet high, and serves as the ceremonial entryway for visitors to City Hall. The open space under the glass dome directly connects to the City Council Chambers. It also opens onto the public plaza to provide an exciting new venue for community celebrations and events.

City Council Chambers: The 7,000-square-foot Council Chambers use state-of-the-art audio/video technology and provide 330 seats with overflow available in the community meeting rooms directly behind the dais. The dais is at the same level as the speaking podium to encourage open dialog between the Council and constituents. The Council Chambers are fully accessible for individuals with disabilities.

The chambers emphasize the use of natural light, with a skylight along the south side. To achieve this open look, the load is carried along a 92 foot - 40 ton steel beam. The committee meeting room(s) may be scheduled for community use and can be configured to accommodate various size groups.

Public Meeting Rooms: The new City Hall's houses close to 120 meeting spaces, up to half of which will be available for community use. Meeting rooms are intended to encourage teamwork across workgroups and increase productivity of the organization. Community groups interested in reserving meeting spaces can contact the Customer Information Desk

Plenty of Public Gathering Space: Over 2.5 acres of programmable space on the plaza are designed to provide a venue for community celebrations and events.

Project Benefits: San José will save approximately $189 million (net present value) over the next 50 years as a result of the consolidation of City services in one location that minimizes the costs for leased office space in multiple locations throughout the community. As an added benefit, the local economic impact from the project is estimated at $121 million.

Grand Opening : The grand opening celebration is scheduled for Saturday, October 15 from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. For more information visit the Grand Opening page (link to Grand opening page).

For more information, please contact us at (408) 535-3500.