Feds sell second Southwest waterfront property as part of Trump downsizing of government
by Sean Salai · The Washington TimesA private developer is buying the Liberty Loan Building overlooking the Tidal Basin in Southwest Washington — the second federal property sold under the Trump administration’s government downsizing campaign.
The General Services Administration, the government’s landlord agency, said it identified the vacant 2.6-acre property at 401 14th Street SW for accelerated sale last year in compliance with a White House directive to shrink the federal real estate footprint.
Northern Virginia executive Satvik Raj purchased the 1918 building with a $17.5 million loan from a British bank, according to property records obtained by WTOP-FM.
The sale includes nearly two acres of Reservation 2, known as the Washington Monument Grounds. The National Park Service transferred the parcel to the GSA this year to facilitate the sale.
Under the terms of the sale, landscaping and other features must be compatible with the surrounding area and no commercial signage can be displayed.
The sale also includes the traffic ramp from Maine to Interstate 395 that runs through the building.
“GSA is delivering on President Trump’s priority of fortifying the federal footprint,” GSA Administrator Edward C. Forst said Friday in an announcement. “This sale eliminates a costly liability and is expected to save taxpayers nearly $14.6 million in delinquent maintenance and $1.6 million annually in operating costs.”
What the redeveloped property will become remains unclear. Real estate insiders expect the six-story building to be repurposed for hospitality, residential housing or mixed-use space.
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CBRE Mid-Atlantic, which brokered the sale, called it a “once-in-a-generation opportunity.”
“Its unobstructed views of the Tidal Basin, proximity to the National Mall and redevelopment flexibility drove exceptional investor interest,” said Kyle Schoppmann, CBRE Mid-Atlantic’s president.
Public-private partnerships have transformed the Southwest waterfront into a thriving night spot in recent years.
The GSA announced in March that Dalian Development purchased its Regional Office Building on the waterfront’s edge for $24.26 million, with plans to convert it into rental apartments and a ground-floor museum.
The agency, which manages a nationwide portfolio of roughly 360 million square feet, has also sold federal properties in Texas, Minnesota and California in recent months.
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Built to house a World War I bond program, the Liberty Loan Building hosted the Treasury Department’s Bureau of the Fiscal Service until 2024, when the GSA declared it had “outlived its useful life.”
Sen. Joni Ernst, who has pushed to shed federal buildings that became “ghost towns” during pandemic teleworking, said the sale would save taxpayers “tens of millions of dollars in upkeep costs and also see millions of dollars in profits.”
“Another underutilized and expensive federal building occupying prime real estate in our nation’s capital is no longer on the taxpayer’s dime,” Ms. Ernst, Iowa Republican, said in an emailed statement.
Her office noted that the Biden administration reported to Congress in August 2024 that underutilized federal buildings in the District cost taxpayers more than $81 million a year — including nearly 7,700 vacant buildings and 2,265 largely empty ones.
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GSA reported last year that deferred maintenance on federal properties nationwide exceeded $6 billion and was on track to hit $20 billion within five years.
More buildings are on the chopping block: The Public Buildings Reform Board identified 11 federal properties worth $5.4 billion for accelerated disposal last year, and the Trump administration’s Office of Management and Budget approved those recommendations in May 2025.
Other properties that the independent government watchdog earmarked for disposal include the Energy Department’s massive headquarters, where just eight employees worked daily during the first nine months of 2023 despite a capacity of 4,388 seats.
In February, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced plans to sell its South Building in Southwest Washington, estimated to be 70% empty — the first sale implementing a January 2025 law that former President Joseph R. Biden signed requiring federal buildings to be at least 60% occupied.
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The push to shed unused buildings marks a sharp break from the Biden administration, which extended pandemic telework allowances and declined to implement the reform board’s recommendations.
Dan Mathews, a Biden appointee to the reform board and former GSA Public Buildings Service commissioner, praised the Liberty Loan sale.
The building reform board “fully supports GSA’s efforts to dispose of federal properties which are outdated, poorly maintained, and/or largely unoccupied,” Mr. Mathews said.
Meanwhile, the GSA announced Thursday that it is joining the White House Task Force to Eliminate Fraud to help “detect irregularities, accelerate investigations, and safeguard taxpayer dollars” — a task force Mr. Trump established in March with Vice President J.D. Vance as chairman.
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“We are committed to uncovering and eliminating waste, abuse, and systemic vulnerabilities that undermine these programs and take advantage of American taxpayers,” said task force director Scott Brady. “GSA’s background will be instrumental in delivering President Trump’s promise to protect American taxpayers and ensure resources reach those who truly need them.”
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Sean Salai
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