Real Estate Update: USDA to Vacate Part of DC Headquarters; Courts Seek Control of Courthouses

Updates on efforts to remake the federal real estate footprint and relocate some employees. 

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is turning over parts of its headquarters in Washington, DC, to its landlord, the General Services Administration (GSA). 

The building in question– the South Building– is more than 70 percent unoccupied on any given day, with a $1.6 billion backlog in deferred maintenance. 

“If you were to walk in the South Building today, here’s what you would find: empty office, after empty office, after empty office,” said Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins. 

GSA says there will be a deliberate process involving stakeholders and the private sector on the future of the building, which could include a sale.

“We want to be good listeners, and then we'll execute on this,” said GSA Administrator Edward Forst. 

Employee Impact

The disposal of the South Building comes as USDA plans to relocate about half of its current DC workforce. 

USDA says it will tell employees of their new destinations in the coming months. Five regional hubs are being set up in Raleigh, North Carolina; Kansas City, Missouri; Indianapolis; Fort Collins, Colorado; and Salt Lake City, Utah.

“Our goal is to have our employees complete the school year here in Washington, D.C., and be in place in their new hub locations at the time school starts in those new hub locations,” said USDA Deputy Secretary Stephen Vaden. 

Courts Ask for Building Control

Meanwhile, the federal judiciary wants to take over management of the nation’s federal courthouses from GSA and is asking Congress to write legislation permitting it to do so. 

The Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts says there are more than $8 billion worth of “delinquent infrastructure repairs” in courthouses across the country creating risks to safety, security and court operations, including a ceiling that collapsed during a trial, stuck elevators, and mold. It also pointed to departures in GSA staff for accelerating the problems. 

“Without immediate action, the problems will continue to worsen,” wrote Director Judge Robert Conrad Jr. “Action is needed now to reverse a downward spiral of critical-system failures, long-term underfunding of repairs, security risks, and climbing costs.”

GSA disagreed. 

“While aging federal buildings present well-known challenges, their narrative omits critical context regarding our lack of access to GSA’s Federal Building Fund to address delinquent maintenance,” stated GSA associate administrator for strategic communications Marianne Copenhaver.