The current house and senate buildings were constructed in 1960 and form a plaza on the east side of the old 1900 Capitol building.  The Governor's Office remained in the Old Capitol until 1974, when the executive tower was built.   As Arizona's population has grown, the Capitol complex itself has become increasingly crowded. The Senate and House buildings have been deteriorating. The Senate in particular is prone to constant plumbing problems, and occasionally a broken pipe floods the entire building. The Capitol itself is now used exclusively as a museum, and serves over 60,000 visitors each year, including more than 30,000 school children. In addition, many complaints have been made that the current site is not pleasing aesthetically, and compare the Senate and House buildings as oversized "bunkers" which eclipse the beauty of the Capitol. A task force appointed by the state legislature in 2007 reported that the complex is "barely" adequate to suit the state's current needs and "wholly" inadequate to suit the state's future needs.  As a result, proposals are now being made to renovate or rebuild the Capitol site, to a grander site, as well as a site that will serve the needs of the government more adequately.

Recent proposals are for relocating some office and meeting space back into the Capitol, while it maintains at least some function as a museum. The House and Senate buildings have been recommended to undergo either a drastic rebuilding and expansion, or a complete demolition and construction of new facilities for the House and Senate. A recent Arizona State University study planned a comprehensive redesign for the entire Capitol mall and complex.

On January 14, 2010, the Arizona State Department of Administration reported that it had sold the surrounding state buildings surrounding the Old Capitol to private investors: the tower, the two flanking legislative buildings, and other state structures. The Old Capitol was not part of this transaction.