Seventeen government buildings around Fairfax County, including the U.S. Geological Survey headquarters, could be going up for sale amid federal spending cuts.
Buildings in Reston, and Springfield were among 443 federal properties listed by the General Services Administration (GSA) as “not core to government operations” on Tuesday (March 4) before that list was taken down just one day later.
The U.S. Geological Survey’s headquarters is located at 12201 Sunrise Valley Drive in Reston on a 105-acre site. Built in 1973, the seven-story John W. Powell Federal Building is valued at more than $262 million, including $71.6 million for the land itself, according to Fairfax County property tax records.
Three buildings on the campus totaling 999,838 square feet of space — the main Powell building, an Advanced Systems Center and a utility plant — were listed by the GSA as potentially being for sale.
Reports that the Trump administration has asked federal agencies to identify facilities that could move out of the D.C. region prompted Fairfax County’s mostly Democratic Board of Supervisors to call on Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin on Tuesday to advocate against any potential relocations.
Hunter Mill District Supervisor Walter Alcorn, who represents Reston, said in a newsletter that the relocations and sales could do significant economic harm to Fairfax County.
“These relocations and property sales threaten to harm the county and region, resulting in job losses, economic instability, and the loss of institutional knowledge for effective government operations,” Alcorn wrote. “This assault on our economy is unprecedented, and many people and businesses are already suffering. This is why I supported the Board of Supervisors’ letter to Governor Youngkin, urging him to actively oppose these relocations.”
The largest property in Fairfax County on the GSA’s list was a 1-million-square-foot site identified as “Building A, 6810” in Springfield, likely part of the Springfield/Franconia Warehouse Complex at 6808 Loisdale Road — once a contender for the new FBI headquarters.
In addition, Springfield has 11 structures listed as “Butler Buildings” that range in size from 800 square feet up to 8,280 square feet, though the GSA list is frustratingly vague on other details. The list also includes Franconia Buildings B, C and D, which collectively encompass 272,184 square feet.
Only the name, city and square footage for each property is listed, and staff at a county supervisor’s office said they couldn’t determine what buildings were being referenced. One of them is reportedly used by the CIA, according to Wired.
In neighboring Arlington, the State Department’s Bureau of Diplomatic Security headquarters could be up for sale as well.
In a statement released on Tuesday, the GSA said it identified nearly 80 million square feet of space owned by the federal government that has been empty or underutilized. The “non-core assets” mostly consist of office space.
“Decades of funding deficiencies have resulted in many of these buildings becoming functionally obsolete and unsuitable for use by our federal workforce,” the GSA said. “We can no longer hope that funding will emerge to resolve these longstanding issues. GSA’s decisive action to dispose of non-core assets leverages the private sector, drives improvements for our agency customers, and best serves local communities.”
The agency projects that offloading the space could save the federal government “more than $430 million in annual operating costs.”
In an update on Wednesday (March 5), the GSA clarified that properties on the list won’t necessarily be “immediately for sale,” but the agency “will consider compelling offers … and do what’s best for the needs of the federal government and taxpayer.”
After the list went up on Tuesday, the GSA says it drew “an overwhelming amount of interest,” though it didn’t address why the list was subsequently taken down.
“We anticipate the list will be republished in the near future after we evaluate this initial input and determine how we can make it easier for stakeholders to understand the nuances of the assets listed,” the GSA said.
