Editor’s note: This story has been updated with a statement from the General Services Administration.
The federal agency that manages the government’s real estate portfolio on Wednesday took off the web a list of hundreds of office complexes and department centers it deemed “noncore assets” hours after publicizing its intent to potentially sell those buildings.
The General Services Administration, which oversees the government’s leased and owned properties, removed the list it published Tuesday afternoon that included 443 office complexes, courthouses and other operations centers. The original list was advertised as a chopping block for buildings the GSA considered “not core to government operations” and included 17 properties across Georgia, including two downtown Atlanta landmarks.
An explanation for pulling the list was not provided.
The GSA did not respond to a request for comment from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The agency released a statement Wednesday afternoon saying it anticipates “the list will be republished in the near future,” citing an “overwhelming amount of interest.”
The web page that organized the properties and boasted of the potential savings of offloading them now says the list is “coming soon.”
It’s the latest example in President Donald Trump’s second term of a federal agency suddenly announcing a sweeping proposal or cost-cutting campaign only to quickly walk it back. Experts have compared the blazing speed of initiatives, rollbacks and heel turns to the Trump administration adopting the Silicon Valley ethos of “move fast and break things,” aiming for quick change even if it means making mistakes. It’s a sentiment often highlighted by Trump ally Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla who also spearheads the Department of Government Efficiency, but it’s unusual among U.S. administrations.
“It’s not typical at all for governments to move in this haphazard fashion,” Brett House, a professor of professional practice at Columbia Business School, said. “Governments usually move in measured ways.”
The GSA’s original list included more than 80 million square feet, which the agency said represents about $8.3 billion in asset value and $430 million in annual operating and maintenance costs. It included two of the largest government buildings in the Southeast: the Sam Nunn Atlanta Federal Center and the Martin Luther King Jr. Federal Building.
Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez
Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez
The Sam Nunn complex was the fourth largest targeted for potential “divestment,” but it had some high-profile peers. The GSA list also featured gigantic buildings in Washington, including the headquarters for the Department of Justice, FBI and GSA itself. More than 120 of those buildings — but none in Georgia — were removed from the list Tuesday night before the entire list was pulled, according to the New York Times.
The GSA previously said its analysis of properties across the U.S. would remain ongoing, adding that its list of noncore assets was subject to change. It also said it would consider different types of dispositions, such as direct sales, redevelopment sales and sale-lease-back arrangements that would see the government remain a tenant.
“GSA is committed to being a smart steward of taxpayer dollars by cutting unneeded space and reducing costs,” an agency spokesperson told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Tuesday before the property list was removed. “Noncore assets … often do not provide federal employees the high quality work environments they need to fulfill their missions.”
On Wednesday, the agency said that not all assets deemed noncore are immediately for sale, but it said it will “consider compelling offers.”
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