The Trump administration has begun the process of transferring control of USDA’s South building to the General Services Administration (GSA), which will try to sell it. USDA also plans to empty an office in Virginia used by the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS).
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins made the announcement today before USDA staff and reporters in front of the South building on Independence Avenue.
She argued that the move is necessary to “right-size” the department’s real estate footprint, noting that the building is more than 70% vacant.
Decades ago, the South building was the “beating heart of USDA, alive with research and teeming with activity,” she said. “Today, it is a former shell of what it once was.”
GSA Administrator Edward Forst told reporters that the agency would now consult with stakeholders on the best use for the building and how to maximize returns for it.
The building has somewhere in the region of $1.6 billion worth of necessary maintenance, Forst said, calling the South building “the largest liability of all GSA buildings.”
“We'll work with potential buyers on what they could repurpose this site for in its form or in some revised and renewed form,” Forst said. But he stressed that the administration is very much in the “discovery” phase.
The Old Cotton Annex building, located across the street from the South building, is now a block of luxury apartments. Rollins argued that the building is “a great example of what could happen” to the South building.
As for the employees currently working in the building, Deputy Agriculture Secretary Stephen Vaden said that the department is aiming to relocate the officials by the end of 2026 and have them in their new “hub” locations outside Washington.
“We'll be making mission area by mission area announcements in the weeks ahead for where each of our remaining seven mission areas and their employees will be going,” he said.
A memo sent to USDA employees on Thursday from Vaden and seen by Agri-Pulse says that no decision on employee locations has been finalized but pledges to keep staff “informed throughout the process.”
The South building’s heating, water and air system is currently linked to the Whitten building, which will remain under USDA control. Asked how the administration plans to address this issue, Vaden said that the department has a plan for how it will separate the two systems so that the Whitten building can operate independently, although he did not elaborate on what that plan might involve.
In a statement, the department said Braddock Place, an office building in Northern Virginia which is leased in part by the FNS, would also be turned over to GSA.
“This decision was based on a review of building conditions and utilization,” the memo to USDA staff reads. “The announcement is a first step in aligning USDA’s space and facilities with our actual needs in the National Capital Region.”
Vaden told reporters Wednesday that the FNS employees would be relocated to the Yates building in Washington, D.C., which he said are “much better offices.” The Yates building currently houses the Forest Service.
Senate Agriculture Committee Chair John Boozman, R-Ark., praised the administration’s announcements in a statement Wednesday.
“This commitment to reducing nearly vacant facilities and costly maintenance backlogs will help focus resources on where they matter most and strengthen the department’s mission to serve rural America,” he said.
For more news, go to Agri-Pulse.com.
