Several floors of the Sam Nunn Atlanta Federal Center flooded Monday after a “significant leak” on an upper floor of the complex’s tower, forcing many employees who recently returned to their offices to work remotely.
Eleven floors within the tower were directly affected by the leak, which was caused by problems within a connection within the complex’s climate control system, according to a statement from a General Services Administration spokesperson. The GSA is the agency that oversees federal real estate. The rest of the complex was unaffected, the agency said.
Federal workers on the affected floors will be out of the building at least until Friday and possibly longer, according to the GSA.
The more than 1.5 million square foot complex, located at 61 Forsyth St. SW near the Five Points MARTA station, houses multiple federal agencies, including the Army Corps of Engineers, Environmental Protection Agency, Social Security Administration, GSA, and the departments of Homeland Security and Health & Human Services.
Workers in many federal agencies in recent months have been ordered to return to their offices amid the Trump administration’s push to streamline government and end remote work.
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
“On the morning of June 2nd, GSA discovered a ruptured chilled water line at the Sam Nunn Atlanta Federal Center that resulted in a significant leak originating on the 16th floor, and affecting floors 6-16 of the facility,” a GSA spokesperson shared in an email statement. “The leak has been stopped, GSA has begun cleaning up the affected floors and developing an action plan to address damages. GSA is communicating closely with affected tenant agencies to support their continued operations during the work to repair damages caused by the leak.”
The west side of the building on Monday appeared to have been a site of heavy waterflow; large amounts of water could be seen running down the outside of that side of the building on Monday, said a federal employee who works in the building and spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment.
The leak was caused by issues with what’s known as a SharkBite connection, a solder-free, push-to-connect joining of water lines on a heating and cooling unit, according to the GSA.
Tower floors 6-16 are closed as least through Friday as the water is removed, according to the GSA. Employees on the impacted floors are being asked to work from home and not enter the building as flood remediation occurs, according to the GSA. Once each floor is water-free, tenant agencies can return. Finishing repairs will continue while workers are back in office.
Only the listed floors in the tower were affected; all others parts of the center are open and running as normal, according to the GSA.
This is the second Atlanta federal building to make headlines recently. The Peachtree Summit Federal Building on West Peachtree Street has, in recent months, been identified by both GSA and the Public Buildings Review Board for disposal. Peachtree Summit was noted for its “underutilization and significant deferred maintenance” in a PBRB report last month that identified 11 properties for sale or consolidation. That report also including an expectation that, if Peachtree Summit were sold, those federal workers would be relocated to the Sam Nunn center.
In March, the Sam Nunn Federal Center was included on a list of 443 properties deemed “non-core assets” to potentially be put up for sale. The list was published, and then quickly rescinded, by GSA because of the “overwhelming response” to the vast list. GSA has continued to identify buildings for “accelerated disposition” incrementally since March. While Peachtree Summit, which was not on the list of 443, has been tagged, the Sam Nunn complex, which was on the original list, has yet to make a reappearance on the GSA’s chopping block. According to the GSA, each federal property is individually evaluated on its own merit, and the Sam Nunn center is not currently on their radar for disposal.
GSA is in charge of the federal government’s real estate holdings. Part of its mission is “disposition of federal facilities and properties when they are no longer needed or prove to be a financial burden to taxpayers,” according to the organization’s website.
The Nunn center also endured a rodent infestation during the pandemic. GSA inked a $3.2 million contract in 2022 to rid the campus of unwanted critters, the AJC reported at the time. At the time, GSA said the problem stemmed from a “confluence of several factors — including construction in the area and conditions adjacent to the facility.”
— Staff writer Zachary Hansen contributed to this report.
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