Diplomacy museum and buildings designed by Breuer and Mies van der Rohe among hundreds of US federal properties briefly listed for sale – The Art Newspaper

The US General Services Administration (GSA) under President Donald Trump briefly published then removed a list of federal buildings it seeks to offload, including several properties of cultural interest.

The “non-core property list”, published 4 March, initially included 443 properties but was revised to 320 after backlash over the inclusion of properties like the J. Edgar Hoover FBI Headquarters in Washington, DC. Even after 123 properties were delisted, the list sparked debate and the GSA removed it from its website on 5 March.

“We are identifying buildings and facilities that are not core to government operations, or non-core properties, for disposal,” states a message posed in place of the list, noting that the list would soon return; the GSA has not explained the list’s publication or removal. “Selling ensures that taxpayer dollars are no longer spent on vacant or underutilised federal spaces.” Spokespersons for the GSA did not respond to The Art Newspaper’s inquiry regarding the list of properties.

Perhaps the most culturally relevant inclusion on the list was the National Museum of American Diplomacy in Washington. It was among those struck from the list before it was deleted. The museum did not return a request for comment by press time.

Another notable listing was a federal office building in Seattle that holds offices for the National Archives. It had previously been marked for sale under the Federal Assets Sale and Transfer Act, until courts intervened in 2021.

A surprising inclusion was the Old Post Office, a historic Romanesque Revival building that once housed the Trump International Hotel in Washington. It survived previous demolition attempts and remains the city’s second tallest structure after the Washington Monument.

And the list included sites like the Central Heating Plant in Washington, a landmark facility designed by Paul Philippe Cret that provides steamed and chilled water for heating and cooling to buildings on the National Mall, which might include several museums under the Smithsonian Institution banner.

Because of the ages of the buildings on the GSA list and their purposes as federal institutions, many appear on the National Register of Historic Places. As such, many house murals, sculptures and other public art dating back to at least the Works Progress Administration (WPA) era. Others have great architectural significance, like Marcel Breuer’s 1968 concrete structure for the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s headquarters in Washington.

Among the most notable in this vein is the John C. Kluczynski Federal Building in Chicago, a 45-storey Modernist office tower designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe with a famous Alexander Calder sculpture in its plaza. The GSA website shows it is occupied by agencies including the Department of Labor, the Drug Enforcement Agency, the Internal Revenue Service and the offices of Illinois’ two senators, Tammy Duckworth and Dick Durbin.

Another is the US Custom House in Philadelphia, a 1934 Art Deco building occupying a full city block and bordering Independence National Historic Park. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2011 and was celebrated in its registration form for a crowning illuminated terra cotta lantern based on the ancient lantern at the Greek Island of Rhodes and large sculpted eagles and urns decorating the upper corners of the building. Its interior boasts 31 mural panels with nautical themes.

And the Paul D. Wellstone Federal Building in Minneapolis, Minnesota, is a former post office and now a federal office building built in 1913 in the Beaux-Arts style with two-storey Greek Corinthian columns lining its exterior. It is also listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

The David W. Dyer US Courthouse in Miami, a Mediterranean Revival landmark, features a 1941 mural by Denman Fink and cast-stone lunettes by Alexander Sambugnac, portraying allegorical figures of justice.

The Martin Luther King Jr. Federal Building in Atlanta, which was considered a “state of the art” facility when it was built by the WPA in 1931-33 with Art Deco ornamentation, and the Minton-Capehart Federal Building in Indianapolis, which sports a famous modern mural, are also of note.

While no Smithsonian museums or similar dedicated art institutions were on the list of buildings on offer, the presence of structures with significant public art, archives or historical collections underscored the cultural stakes of the non-core sales. Before its removal, the appearance of the list caused what members of Congress in a Transportation and Infrastructure Committee hearing on 5 March described as “chaos” and “mass confusion” over how the Trump administration was disposing of properties.

Trump’s mission to offload federal buildings is not new to his second term. During his first term, Trump sought to use the Federal Assets Sale Transfer Act (Fasta), which was signed into law by former President Barack Obama in 2016, to his benefit. The law’s passage under Obama established an independent Public Buildings Reform Board (PBRB) to review major properties for the government to offload. The board became operational in May 2019 with the swearing in of five members and it began its initial assessment of federal properties in June 2019.

David Winstead, a PBRB member, indicated as he testified to the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee that the GSA list was not developed under the Fasta process but resulted from a long-term internal review. He expressed hope that more properties would be submitted to the PBRB for expedited sale under the law.

Bipartisan efforts to eliminate federal real estate waste have continued under multiple administrations. After Fasta’s enactment, the administration of former President Joe Biden approved two rounds of recommendations but faced challenges in executing property sales. A 2022 Government Accountability Office (GAO) report highlighted delays and, in 2023, the GAO found that it took nearly two years to sell just ten properties, generating $194m. It said at the time that it identified potential options to address those setbacks before the final round was to take place in 2024.

Nina Albert, the commissioner of the GSA’s Public Buildings Service, testified before Congress in June 2023, revealing that buildings weren’t ready for disposition and that the agencies that occupied them needed resources to move elsewhere.

In March 2024, Biden’s administration approved a third round of recommendations, initiating property sales through the remainder of his term. That June, Biden signed the Fasta Reform Act of 2023 to improve the efficiency of the sale process and extend the PBRB’s operations through 2026.

The Trump administration’s recent push appears to fast-track federal property sales, leveraging precedents set under Obama and Biden while sidestepping the structured Fasta process. The GSA has yet to clarify whether the non-core list will return or how these sales will proceed.