About the project
Located on a 170-acre tract of land near the corner of Southwestern Boulevard and SE Inner Loop in Georgetown, the 120,000-square-foot building will house many county offices and departments, according to a county press release, including:
- The Commissioners Court meeting space
- The county judge’s office
- The county tax assessor-collector
- The county clerk’s records division
- The county treasurer
- The county auditor
- The county’s budget office
- The legal, purchasing and public affairs departments
Plans for the new headquarters show a three-story building with parking circling the structure. Slated to cost $90 million, construction is expected to be completed in late 2025.
Williamson County Commissioners Court approved the project in February 2023 and the construction contract with Chasco Contractors on March 26.
The project is funded by tax anticipation notes approved in 2021, according to previous Community Impact reporting. Tax anticipation notes let government entities issue debt and repay it with future tax collections.
The backstory
The groundbreaking marked the construction of the sixth courthouse in Williamson County’s 176-year history, Williamson County Judge Bill Gravell said. Construction on the fifth courthouse, which is located on the Georgetown square, began in 1910 at the cost of $137,000.
“The building has stood for more than 123 years at the center of county government,” Gravell said during the event. “It's been the focus not only here in our community, but it is the focal point of the most beautiful town square in Texas.”
Though the historic courthouse has undergone renovations and expansions over the years, the new headquarters is designed to meet the needs of one of the fastest-growing counties in Texas, Gravell said.
“We currently have more than 700,000 people [in Williamson County]. Now it’s time for us, as members of the court, to plan for the next 100 years, starting with a new center of county government,” Gravell said.
Looking ahead
The historic courthouse will remain in the possession of Williamson County and will house other county departments, Gravell said, although officials are still determining the specific plans for the building.
“I think it’s really important even though we’re building a $90 million administration building, that we never forget where we’ve come from,” Gravell said in an interview with Community Impact. “[The new administration] building is situated in such a way that the county judge's office and Commissioners Court, the view that they see, is the historic courthouse and historic Georgetown.”
County services are expected to move into the new headquarters by December 2025, according to previous reporting by Community Impact.
