 In 1999, Mayor Ron Gonzales and the city council rejected all of Meier's first round of proposals, which called for a low-rise office block, and insisted on a more iconic structure that featured a rotunda.Construction was originally estimated to cost $, and a 1998 budget allocated $ to the project (equivalent to $ in ).However, former mayor Albert J. Ruffo successfully sued the city to stop it from using redevelopment agency funds for the project.