The building permit for the Brownley Building notes that when built in 1932, it received an award from the Architect's Advisory Council for "meeting exceptionally well the standards which should be maintained for private buildings in the National Capital," The design successfully relates to the traditional fabric of older buildings in the area. Through its ornamentation, the Brownley Building captures the visual variety typical of older, more traditional buildings and relates to the pedestrian scale of F Street.

Originally owned by Caleb G. Willard, the trustees of his estate, Boyd, Willard, and Howe, sold the property title in 1919 to Walter Brownley. Following Brownley's death, the deed was transferred to the Brownley Investment Company in 1923. Ed R. Brownley, surviving trustee, maintained ownership of the property until the sale to The Pennsylvania Avenue Development Corporation in 1979.

The project to build a new city hall was initiated shortly before the 1929 stock market crash. In the years following the crash, construction projects were often changed in order to cut costs and appease the general public. The economic situation did not result in cost trimming changes on the proposed Saint Paul City Hall. Drops in labor and material costs, and the availability of master craftsmen more than compensated for most budget costs. In fact, the City Hall building, complete with furnishings and art work, cost only $3,800,000 - $200,000 less than the original bond.

The Saint Paul City Hall and Ramsey County Courthouse is a stunning example of innovative public architecture from the American Depression Era. Commissioned in 1930, and completed in 1931 by Holabird and Root of Chicago and Ellerbe and Company of Saint Paul, the City Hall design uses two Art Deco styles known as "American Perpendicular" and "Zigzag Moderne". The use of Art Deco styles and the incorporation of technologically advanced functional features in the new City Hall building make it a distinctively "modern" structure In the context of 1930's architecture. Art works which symbolically depict the progressive ideals of a modern industrial society add to the futuristic image of the architecture. Because it was constructed of the highest quality materials and is an excellent representative of a past style in the contemporary built environment, the City Hall is still considered an architectural masterpiece and a landmark in the city of Saint Paul.