Hundreds of federal buildings, some of them historic, are on the auction block as part of DOGE's effort to privatize eve

[Eugene]

Source: Fortune

Hundreds of federal buildings, some of them historic, are on the auction block as part of DOGE’s effort to privatize everything

Irina Ivanova
Wed, April 2, 2025 at 7:01 AM EDT 5 min read

• The federal government is reportedly moving to sell off hundreds of office buildings it owns and then lease them back. While the deal could provide a short-term infusion of cash, it’s a long-term loser for the taxpayer, experts told Fortune.

The Trump administration is pushing to privatize "anything that can reasonably be privatized," in the words of Tesla CEO and White House official Elon Musk. And part of that privatization now involves a tactic beloved by private equity: Selling federally owned buildings, then renting them back to the government.

The General Services Administration last month posted, then quickly removed, a list of 500 federal buildings which it deemed “non-core assets.” That list included the J. Edgar Hoover building, which houses the FBI; the Veterans Administration building, and buildings in Chicago and Boston that house senators' offices, Wired reported. Currently, the GSA lists two dozen buildings available for sale, with the promise to “post additional assets regularly.” Meanwhile, GSA officials are moving ahead with plans to quietly sell hundreds of public buildings to private companies, the Washington Post reported—and then turn around and pay to rent them.

The move risks putting the government underwater for future generations to grapple with and opens up the possibility of developers getting corrupt deals, experts told Fortune.

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Read more: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/hundreds-federal-buildings-them-historic-110100707.html