WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a significant move to downsize federal overhead, U.S. Senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) and the General Services Administration (GSA) announced the official sale of the GSA Regional Office Building in the nation’s capital. The transaction is expected to save American taxpayers more than $700 million in combined maintenance and renovation costs.
The sale marks a major milestone in Ernst’s long-standing campaign against “ghost town” federal offices. By offloading the property, the government avoids $205 million in immediate carrying costs and cancels an additional $500 million in federally mandated updates that would have otherwise been billed to the public. Beyond the savings, the sale generated $24 million in direct revenue.
“Even though this building has been vacant, the American people have still been footing the bill,” Ernst stated. “With this sale, we are doing something today that rarely happens in Washington: downsizing both the cost and actual size of the government.”
The move comes amid startling data regarding federal real estate efficiency. Washington currently spends over $81 million annually to maintain underutilized offices, a portfolio that includes nearly 7,700 vacant buildings. Last year, the GSA reported that deferred maintenance on its properties exceeded $6 billion, a figure projected to balloon to $20 billion within five years if left unaddressed.
Ernst has been the chief advocate for these sell-offs, previously releasing an “Out of Office” report that exposed the extent of abandoned government workspaces. Her proposed legislative efforts, including the FOR SALE Act and the DISPOSAL Act, aim to fast-track the auctioning of similar prime properties to generate hundreds of millions in revenue while eliminating billions in overdue maintenance liabilities.
GSA Administrator Edward Forst joined Ernst for the announcement, noting that the administration is prioritizing taxpayer interests by reducing the federal footprint in high-cost urban markets.
(TOP PHOTO via Ernst’s office.)