The Trump administration has promised to make civic buildings great again. Now, according to an announcement from the General Services Administration (GSA), the federal agency that oversees the nation’s commercial real estate portfolio, there will likely be fewer of those buildings.
According to a statement released Tuesday by the GSA’s Public Buildings Service, the agency is targeting 'non-core assets' – underutilised office space, in particular—so that American 'taxpayers no longer pay for empty and underutilised federal office space.'
'Decades of funding deficiencies have resulted in many of these buildings becoming functionally obsolete and unsuitable for use by our federal workforce,' the statement reads. 'We can no longer hope that funding will emerge to resolve these longstanding issues.'
FBI Building In Washington, DC
What those buildings are, precisely, remains to be seen. According to the Associated Press, an initial roster outlined more than 440 properties across the United States to shutter or sell. That lineup included key government buildings in Washington, D.C., from Brutalist landmarks (a style derided by President Trump) like the ‘60s-era J. Edgar Hoover Building, to historic neoclassical buildings, like the American Red Cross National Headquarters.
It also included contemporary structures, like the Charles Gwathmey-designed United States Mission to the U.N. in New York and the Thom Mayne-designed Speaker Nancy Pelosi Federal Building in San Francisco. The list was revised Tuesday and removed altogether by Wednesday.
The National Headquarters of the American Red Cross at 2025 E St NW in Washington, DC, circa 1965
But, as GSA spokesperson Paul Hughes told Wallpaper* Thursday in an emailed statement, 'To be clear, just because an asset is on the list doesn’t mean it’s immediately for sale.'
'However,' he added. 'We will consider compelling offers (in accordance with applicable laws and regulations) and do what's best for the needs of the federal government and taxpayer.'
The announcement received an 'overwhelming amount of interest,' according to Hughes, who added, 'We anticipate the list will be republished in the near future after we evaluate this initial input and determine how we can make it easier for stakeholders to understand the nuances of the assets listed.'
According to the GSA, the agency has more than 80 million rentable square feet in its real estate portfolio and notes that such measures could result in savings of $430 million per year in maintenance costs, in line with President Trump’s executive order to reduce government spending.
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