Federal Government Sells Vacant Office Building, Saving Millions
On Wednesday, the federal government officially sold an office building that has been unoccupied since March 2025, a decision projected to save at least $200 million for the United States.
The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) announced the sale of the former GSA Regional Office Building located at 301 7th St SW, Washington, DC to Dalian Development. Senator Joni Ernst from Iowa commended GSA Secretary Edward C. Forst for driving the agreement.
“I’ve been working to get vacant government buildings sold in Washington. Now, the GSA’s DC regional office building has officially been sold. That will save taxpayers millions of dollars!” Ernst tweeted.
In a statement to the Daily Caller News Foundation, Ernst said, “After years of efforts to sell this vacant and costly federal building, today marks its official sale. Even when unoccupied, the American people continue to cover costs associated with it. This sale will save over $205 million and allocate an additional $500 million for critical updates, all at taxpayer expense. We appreciate Secretary Forst and the Trump Administration prioritizing taxpayers.”
The GSA’s building was initially built between 1929 and 1932 as a warehouse before being converted into office space. Dalian Development intends to transform the site into a mixed-use facility featuring housing, restaurants, and retail space.
A report from the Public Building Review Board (PBRB) released on March 5 estimated that it would take $50 billion to address maintenance backlogs, which is over double previous estimates from the GSA. The report indicated that the GSA is “chronically underfunded” compared to industry standards for building maintenance.
The PBRB expressed approval of the building’s sale, stating, “The bipartisan Board is pleased that the GSA has sold the local government building at 301 S. Seventh Avenue, Washington, D.C. This regional office building was one of several recommended for disposition or consolidation by the federal government in our second report issued in May 2025.”
The report noted that historically, the GSA has received funding that accounts for about 0.375% of its portfolio’s functional replacement value, which falls significantly short of the 2-4% deemed sustainable by industry benchmarks.
In January, the United States Postal Service revealed that 285 buildings nationwide were either partially or entirely vacant. Despite an increase in usage due to back-to-work mandates, the agency only occupies one-third of its D.C. headquarters, as reported in February.
A detailed report released on December 5, 2024, highlighted issues linked to remote work, noting that favorable telework policies developed during the COVID-19 pandemic are causing many office buildings to sit empty, which in turn affects the overall workplace environment.
