Post-9/11, security requirements for high-profile federal buildings has limited the amount of public access anticipated by the center's designers.

[8] The idea received support from Democrats in Congress as well, especially from Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, a former Kennedy administration aide who had long championed completion of the Federal Triangle.

[10] A bill was passed (almost unanimously) by Congress on August 7, 1987, to provide $362 million for the construction of an "International Cultural and Trade Center" on the parking lot at Federal Triangle.

"[12] A nine-member panel was established to approve any plans, and included the Secretaries of State, Agriculture, and Commerce; the Mayor of the District of Columbia; and five members of the public.

[16][17] Preliminary design specifications required that the final building be no taller than the existing Federal Triangle structures, be constructed of similar materials, emphasize pedestrian traffic, and have a "sympathetic" architectural style.

[18] The preliminary design specs were criticized for not more clearly specifying the architectural style,[18] for bringing another 10,000 new workers to Federal Triangle each day, and for reducing the required number of parking spaces by 30 percent to just 1,300.

[19] The five public members of the design committee were named on April 6, 1988, and were former Senator Charles H. Percy, chair; Harry McPherson, president of the Federal City Council; Donald A.

Brown, chair of the Federal City Council's International Center Task Force; Michael R. Garder, a member of the Pennsylvania Avenue Development Corporation; and Judah C. Sommer, a local attorney.

[20] Seven designs were submitted in June 1989, each incorporating a base-middle-crown structure and enclosed in traditional materials, including a limestone facade, vertical glass windows, and terra-cotta roof tiles.

[14] In September 1990, the architectural team made changes, which cut $82 million from the cost of the building, including eliminating two theaters, scaling down the reception hall, using plaster rather than stone, substituting aluminum for bronze in the trim, and reducing the size of interior doors, which reduced the building cost to $656 million.

[40][41] By this time, security concerns had led to several additional design changes, including a reduction in the number of parking spaces to just 1,900, and the cost of the building's construction had risen to $738 million.

The first, by sculptor and Washington, D.C. native Stephen Robin, is a gigantic rose with stem and a lily, both made out of cast aluminum and lying on stone pedestals.

[43] The second, by Washington, D.C. native Martin Puryear, is a Minimalist tower of brown welded metal titled "Bearing Witness", which stands in Woodrow Wilson Plaza.

[43] The third, located inside the building's atrium, is a multi-story neon installation by Keith Sonnier titled "Route Zenith".

[42] In early 2015, the GSA announced that the interior spaces of the Reagan Building had "reached the anticipated end of life cycle in nearly all areas of finishes, carpets, furniture, fixtures and equipment", and it began seeking contractors to extensively renovate the structure.

[44] In addition to CBP, AID and the Wilson Center, other federal agencies with offices in the building include the Department of Commerce, EPA and GSA.

With the city's largest parking garage, information center, and a Washington Metro station, the building is visited by over one million tourists each year.

The summer concert series held on the Woodrow Wilson Plaza and the many food options draw many to the building during the lunch hour.