diff --git a/.devcontainer/Dockerfile.dev b/.devcontainer/Dockerfile.dev
index fec4e16c6a..5b1ddbb11e 100644
--- a/.devcontainer/Dockerfile.dev
+++ b/.devcontainer/Dockerfile.dev
@@ -8,8 +8,10 @@ ARG USER_GID=1000
 ARG INSTALL_PACKAGES=
 
 ARG CXX_STANDARD=17
+ARG THIRD_PARTY_BUILD_TYPE=Release
 
 ENV CXX_STANDARD=${CXX_STANDARD}
+ENV THIRD_PARTY_BUILD_TYPE=${THIRD_PARTY_BUILD_TYPE}
 
 COPY ci /opt/ci
 
@@ -42,6 +44,7 @@ ENV USER_GID=${USER_GID}
 ENV IS_CONTAINER_BUILD=true
 
 COPY install /opt/install
+COPY third_party_release /opt/third_party_release
 COPY ./.devcontainer/customize_container.sh /tmp/opentelemetry_cpp/devcontainer/customize_container.sh
 RUN /tmp/opentelemetry_cpp/devcontainer/customize_container.sh
 RUN apt install -y npm && npm install -g markdownlint-cli@0.44.0
@@ -49,8 +52,8 @@ RUN apt install -y npm && npm install -g markdownlint-cli@0.44.0
 USER devuser
 
 WORKDIR  /workspaces/opentelemetry-cpp
-RUN cd /opt && bash ci/install_thirdparty.sh --install-dir /home/devuser/third-party/install-stable --tags-file install/cmake/third_party_stable
-ENV CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH=/home/devuser/third-party/install-stable
+RUN cd /opt && bash ci/install_thirdparty.sh --install-dir /home/devuser/third-party/install --build-type ${THIRD_PARTY_BUILD_TYPE} --tags-file third_party_release
+ENV CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH=/home/devuser/third-party/install
 
 ENTRYPOINT []
 
diff --git a/ci/install_thirdparty.sh b/ci/install_thirdparty.sh
index 7c23bcbb2b..9b95c2e9f8 100755
--- a/ci/install_thirdparty.sh
+++ b/ci/install_thirdparty.sh
@@ -6,10 +6,11 @@
 set -e
 
 usage() {
-    echo "Usage: $0 --install-dir <path> [--tags-file <file>] [--packages \"<pkg1>;<pkg2>\"]"
+    echo "Usage: $0 --install-dir <path> [--tags-file <file>] [--packages \"<pkg1>;<pkg2>\"] [--build-type <type>]"
     echo "  --install-dir <path>          Path where third-party packages will be installed (required)"
     echo "  --tags-file <file>            File containing tags for third-party packages (optional)"
     echo "  --packages \"<pkg1>;<pkg2>;...\"  Semicolon-separated list of packages to build (optional). Default installs all third-party packages."
+    echo "  --build-type <type>           Build type for third-party packages (optional). Valid: Debug|Release|RelWithDebInfo|MinSizeRel. Default: Release"
     echo "  -h, --help                    Show this help message"
 }
 
@@ -17,6 +18,7 @@ THIRDPARTY_TAGS_FILE=""
 THIRDPARTY_PACKAGES=""
 SRC_DIR="$(pwd)"
 THIRDPARTY_INSTALL_DIR=""
+BUILD_TYPE=""
 
 while [[ $# -gt 0 ]]; do
     case $1 in
@@ -47,6 +49,15 @@ while [[ $# -gt 0 ]]; do
             THIRDPARTY_PACKAGES="$2"
             shift 2
             ;;
+        --build-type)
+            if [ -z "$2" ] || [[ "$2" == --* ]]; then
+                echo "Error: --build-type requires a value" >&2
+                usage
+                exit 1
+            fi
+            BUILD_TYPE="$2"
+            shift 2
+            ;;
         -h|--help)
             usage
             exit 0
@@ -69,20 +80,44 @@ if [ -z "${CXX_STANDARD}" ]; then
     CXX_STANDARD=17
 fi
 
+if [[ "${BUILD_TYPE}" =~ ^(Debug|Release|RelWithDebInfo|MinSizeRel)$ ]]; then
+    CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE="${BUILD_TYPE}"
+else
+    if [ -n "${BUILD_TYPE}" ]; then
+        echo "Warning: invalid --build-type '${BUILD_TYPE}', defaulting to Release" >&2
+    fi
+    CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release
+fi
+
 THIRDPARTY_BUILD_DIR="/tmp/otel-cpp-third-party-build"
+CMAKE_OPTIONS=(
+   "-DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=${THIRDPARTY_INSTALL_DIR}"
+   "-DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=${CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE}"
+   "-DCMAKE_CXX_STANDARD=${CXX_STANDARD}"
+   "-DOTELCPP_THIRDPARTY_TAGS_FILE=${THIRDPARTY_TAGS_FILE}"
+   "-DOTELCPP_PROTO_PATH=${OTELCPP_PROTO_PATH}"
+   "-DOTELCPP_THIRDPARTY_INSTALL_LIST=${THIRDPARTY_PACKAGES}"
+)
+CMAKE_BUILD_ARGS=(--clean-first --parallel)
+
+shopt -s nocasematch
+if [[ "${OTELCPP_CMAKE_VERBOSE_BUILD:-OFF}" =~ ^(1|ON|TRUE|YES)$ ]]; then
+    CMAKE_BUILD_ARGS+=(--verbose)
+fi
+shopt -u nocasematch
+
+if command -v ninja >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+    CMAKE_OPTIONS+=("-G" "Ninja")
+fi
 
 if [ -d "${THIRDPARTY_BUILD_DIR}" ]; then
     rm -rf "${THIRDPARTY_BUILD_DIR}"
 fi
 
 cmake -S "${SRC_DIR}/install/cmake" -B "${THIRDPARTY_BUILD_DIR}" \
-   "-DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=${THIRDPARTY_INSTALL_DIR}" \
-   "-DCMAKE_CXX_STANDARD=${CXX_STANDARD}" \
-   "-DOTELCPP_THIRDPARTY_TAGS_FILE=${THIRDPARTY_TAGS_FILE}" \
-   "-DOTELCPP_PROTO_PATH=${OTELCPP_PROTO_PATH}" \
-   "-DOTELCPP_THIRDPARTY_INSTALL_LIST=${THIRDPARTY_PACKAGES}"
+    "${CMAKE_OPTIONS[@]}"
 
-cmake --build "${THIRDPARTY_BUILD_DIR}" --clean-first -j"$(nproc)"
+cmake --build "${THIRDPARTY_BUILD_DIR}" "${CMAKE_BUILD_ARGS[@]}"
 
 if [ "${THIRDPARTY_INSTALL_DIR}" = "/usr/local" ]; then
   ldconfig
@@ -92,4 +127,5 @@ echo "Third-party packages installed successfully."
 echo "-- THIRDPARTY_INSTALL_DIR: ${THIRDPARTY_INSTALL_DIR}"
 echo "-- THIRDPARTY_TAGS_FILE: ${THIRDPARTY_TAGS_FILE}"
 echo "-- THIRDPARTY_PACKAGES: ${THIRDPARTY_PACKAGES:-all}"
+echo "-- CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE: ${CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE}"
 echo "-- CXX_STANDARD: ${CXX_STANDARD}"
diff --git a/ci/setup_ci_environment.sh b/ci/setup_ci_environment.sh
index 794f2e490f..568f70f98f 100755
--- a/ci/setup_ci_environment.sh
+++ b/ci/setup_ci_environment.sh
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 set -e
 apt-get update
 apt-get install --no-install-recommends --no-install-suggests -y \
+                ninja-build \
                 build-essential \
                 ca-certificates \
                 wget \
diff --git a/third_party_release b/third_party_release
index 6cbb4ee570..c2a32e157d 100644
--- a/third_party_release
+++ b/third_party_release
@@ -26,4 +26,3 @@ opentelemetry-proto=v1.8.0
 opentracing-cpp=v1.6.0
 prometheus-cpp=v1.3.0
 ryml=v0.10.0
-vcpkg=2024.02.14