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Van Nuys, CA, was annexed into Los Angeles, CA, in 1915. It joined with the metropolis to benefit from Engineer William Mulholland's (Chief Engineer and General Manager of the city-owned Bureau of Water Works and Supply) ambitious plans to pipe water into Los Angeles County. Architect Peter K. Schabarum (1891-1950) completed plans by late 1931. Building contractor the Herbert M. Baruch Corporation began shoring and foundation work in 06/1932 and steel work a month later. Formal dedication of the city hall occurred on 02/22/1933, Washington's Birthday, attracting 10,000 spectators, Los Angeles's Mayor John C. Porter (1871-1959) and other local dignitaries. The web site, Big Orange Landmarks, presented a thorough outline of the building's construction data gleaned from Los Angeles Times articles. According to it, the building cost approximately $275,000, to erect. It also noted: "Originally, it housed the Bureau of Engineering and a hospital in one wing, with the Police Department and Municipal Court, complete with a jail, in the other wing. The Department of Building and Safety was on the third floor. Other municipal departments located here included fire, health, humane, prosecutor, clerk, civil service, engineering, and assessments." (See Floyd Bariscale, "Big Orange Landmarks,"Accessed 20/26/2012.) The City Hall complex also included two other pre-existing buildings, one perhaps an administration building and the other a paint and body shop. Following the 1994 earthquake centered in nearby Northridge, the tower's structural viability came into question. Money was found to seismically upgrade it, and the tower reopened in 2005. Another municipal building, the Marvin Braude Constituent Center (2003), named for a longtime city councilman, absorbed most of the city personnel forced to vacate the tower.

The Van Nuys City Hall functioned as a regional administrative center for the City of Los Angeles, serving the rapidly developing San Fernando Valley; the 1932-1933 construction consisted of a tower flanked on either side by lower, austere WPA Moderne Style wings. Austerity was especially appropriate during 1932-1933 period, as this was one of the Depression's lowest points. In 08/1978, the Los Angeles Cultural Heritage Commission considered five Van Nuys buildings for inclusion on its list of Historic-Cultural Monuments; it designated three of these--the Van Nuys Woman's Club (1917), Baird House [1921] and the Valley Municipal Building.

Seismic alterations were completed in 2005.