[8][9] Another committee reported on county agency space needs in 1980, and in 1982 a design team and concept were selected.

[8] In 1985, the Board of Supervisors initiated a plan under which they could construct the new government center free or on the cheap as part of a joint public-private partnership.

[8][10] After years of negotiation, the county in 1987 entered into an agreement with a joint partnership of the Charles E. Smith Company and the Artery Organization whereby the county gave Smith/Artery 50 acres of land for residential development, conveyed for 75 years 67 acres of land for commercial development, and paid Smith/Artery $27.3 million.

[14][15] The name was applied due to the intent to install features that were perceived as luxuries, including a $400,000 12-story steel obelisk, later cancelled, a custom-built granite conference table, Brazilian mahogany paneling, and private elevators for the members of the Board of Supervisors during a time of constrained budgets due to the recession of the late 1980s and early 1990s.

[1][16] Naturalization ceremonies,[17] vaccine distribution, absentee voting, and other bureaucratic functions are conducted at the center.