On Tuesday, the General Services Administration (GSA) published a list of more than 400 federal buildings and properties to be sold, including the FBI headquarters, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Department of Justice, and other key federal facilities. Hours later, 123 buildings, including high-profile sites like the J. Edgar Hoover Building and Veterans Administration buildings in Washington, DC, were removed from the list. By Wednesday, the entire list had disappeared from the GSA website.
WIRED has created a map and a searchable table of the government properties that were for sale and briefly listed, which also includes corresponding political representatives for each location.
WIRED cross-referenced two datasets to create the map: the list of “non-core” properties originally published—and then removed—by the GSA, and the Inventory of Owned and Leased Properties (IOLP). The GSA defines non-core properties as buildings and facilities that are “not core to government operations” and in a press release about the list argued that sales would provide “savings to the American taxpayer.” The IOLP, a publicly accessible database, offers detailed information on GSA-owned and leased properties across the United States, Puerto Rico, Guam, and American Samoa.
Among those originally denoted as for sale are historically significant properties like Chicago’s Ludwig Mies van der Rohe≠designed John C. Kluczynski Federal Building and the Custom House, an Art Deco building taking up a city block in Philadelphia’s Old City. Less prominent but still notable buildings include the Martinsburg Computing Center in Kearneysville, West Virginia, which houses what the IRS describes as its “individual and corporate tax administration master file data base,” and the Central Heating Plant in Washington, DC, which provides heated and chilled water to government buildings, museums, and national monuments. (The GSA has since claimed that not all buildings are for sale, but the agency has repeatedly changed its tune throughout different internal documents and communications to staffers.)
The GSA, an independent government agency, manages government IT and a significant portion of the federal real estate portfolio. In recent weeks, the agency has been decimated by forced resignations and reductions in forces, including the elimination of 18F, a GSA unit focused on government efficiency. The GSA’s Public Buildings Service (PBS) is reportedly planning to cut 63 percent of its workforce, about 3,600 people in total. Elon Musk’s associates are staffed throughout the GSA, including Technology Transformation Services director Thomas Shedd, a former Tesla engineer, and X staffer Nicole Hollander. A number of young DOGE technologists also have access to the agency.
WIRED reported in February that employees at the GSA were told to sell off more than 500 federal buildings, including properties that house government agencies and the offices of US senators. The list of these buildings divided the properties into “core” and “non-core” assets and designated the “non-core” assets as to be sold.
A note on the original list states that the agency’s intention is eventually to reduce the “size of the owned real estate footprint by 50 percent and the number of buildings by 70 percent. Reductions will be focused on the non-core general office space of the portfolio which can be replaced as needed in the private leased market. Moving forward, all non-core buildings will be disposed of and their tenants will be transitioned into leases.”
The GSA has not said why it published and then subsequently removed the list. “Some have suggested [the list was taken down] due to the negative press,” says a source at GSA, who, along with others mentioned in this story, WIRED is granting anonymity because they are not authorized to talk to the press. “There has been no national strategy on how GSA is supposed to engage customer agencies on their occupancy agreements in these buildings.”
“Our portfolio [team] haven’t heard anything from our national office on what’s actually going on,” another source says.
Other sources have described a small group at the GSA, walled off from other employees, making decisions in tandem with DOGE. “The thing you need to realize is the administrator [of the GSA] and PBS commissioner are making these decisions in a vacuum,” says a source, referring to Michael Peters, the recently appointed PBS commissioner, and Stephen Ehikian, the acting GSA administrator. “The regional staff, senior regional leadership, and most GSA national office staff don’t get to talk to the administrator or PBS commissioner. They have a floor locked off at GSA headquarters with elevator access restricted. They’re in there with DOGE reps … I know it sounds like a bad James Bond movie or I’m making it up, but they literally have locked off a floor.” Peters and Ehikian did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The link to the list published to the GSA website has been replaced by a page that says “coming soon.”
“We are identifying buildings and facilities that are not core to government operations, or non-core properties, for disposal,” the page states. “Selling ensures that taxpayer dollars are no longer spent on vacant or underutilized federal spaces. Disposing of these assets helps eliminate costly maintenance and allows us to reinvest in high-quality work environments that support agency missions.”
In a Wednesday press statement, the GSA did not clarify why the list was deleted. “To be clear, just because an asset is on the list doesn’t mean it’s immediately for sale,” the statement reads. “However, 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 agency 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.”
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), a federal agency within the Department of Health and Human Services, emailed employees about the list of buildings and noted that a number of its buildings were identified as “non-core” assets. “CMS was not aware this was happening, and we didn’t submit or approve any of our current office locations being on this list,” the email states. “We are in active discussions with HHS to ensure we have the facilities we need to fully return to the office in-person and continue performing our critical mission.”
Sources tell WIRED that the posting of the list yesterday has resulted in chaos at the GSA. “There’s a reason we have processes, and they just don’t follow them,” one source says.
“Amateur hour,” says another source.
Zoë Schiffer and Vittoria Elliott contributed reporting.