The federal government plans to sell 11 underused buildings, aiming to save taxpayers $5.4 billion.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — In the era of government efficiency, a new report finds taxpayers are wasting billions of dollars on old and underused buildings.
The Public Buildings Reform Board recommended offloading 11 government buildings in the country’s largest cities to save $5.4 billions. The Office of Management and Budget approved the recommendation to sell the buildings, which are located in Maryland, Washington, DC, Albuquerque, Miami, Boston, Nashville, Houston, Atlanta and Chicago.
“The Board recommends these properties because they are extremely underutilized and require billions of dollars to modernize, which cannot be justified given the availability of far more cost-effective alternatives,” a May report concluded. “The Board estimates that the dispositions and consolidations of these properties in this round will save the taxpayers $5.4 billion and generate an estimated $346 million in sales proceeds. These estimates include consideration of the costs associated with relocating employees and disposing of the properties. Relocating the federal employees from these properties to other locations will provide them with more cost-effective, energy-efficient, and healthier work environments.”
In March, the Department of Government Efficiency identified $146,000 in annual savings by cancelling two leases in Charlotte: One for the Environmental Protection Agency and the other for U.S. Geological Survey.
Back in 2016, long before President Donald Trump created DOGE in 2025, Congress created the bi-partisan PBRB to identify outdated, expensive to maintain and largely unoccupied buildings the government could sell. Executive Director Paul Walden told WCNC Charlotte anonymous cell phone data from the post-COVID era showed some buildings had an average daily attendance of less than 25% and others even less.
“We did some math and as an example, we found with one building here in DC, it was costing roughly $180,000 per year to house that one employee in that building,” Walden said. “It blows your mind away.”
The board has suggested studying dozens of other buildings in the next round, none of which are in the Carolinas.
“We’re trying to save the taxpayers’ burden on maintaining the federal footprint. It’s to save money,” he told WCNC Charlotte. “When we started doing the calculations, like what is really net cost to the taxpayer, it really was astounding.”
A WCNC Charlotte analysis of federal data suggests the board could find savings by looking at buildings across the Carolinas. Records identify a combined 700,000 square feet across the Carolinas, labeled vacant at least at some point this year, inside nearly 60 government buildings across the two states. That is the equivalent of enough unused square footage to fill half of Bank of America Stadium.
“We have a finite number of staff, so we have to limit what the scope of our work is,” Walden said. “That’s why we’ve sort of focused on, basically the larger cities where the larger federal buildings are located. We haven’t really looked at the rural areas.”
The General Services Administration recently updated the data, called the Inventory of Owned and Leased Properties, but eliminated the public’s ability to see just how much vacant space, if any, exists in each building. Despite repeated questions from WCNC Charlotte, the agency has yet to explain why.
Walden said the PBRB has limited resources, but is hopeful new and more accurate occupancy data will help shape future recommendations. He said the existing data is far from perfect, since agencies have not traditionally collected “true building utilization data.”
“[Office of Management and Budget] just in [recent months] has started collecting what I call live occupancy data and we’re just starting to get the data feed from that,” he said. “That will give us a better sense of really how occupied these buildings are.”
Walden said older buildings tend to have huge lobbies and high ceilings, which waste space. In April, during a congressional oversight subcommittee meeting, a Government Accountability Office director testified agencies have been in a wait-and-see mode for too long and need to be more deliberate in addressing this problem moving forward.
“The federal government has held on to too much space and has been too slow in shedding underused properties,” David Marroni said. “Federal buildings are often in poor condition and not well configured for the modern workplace.”
Contact Nate Morabito at nmorabito@wcnc.com and follow him on Facebook, X and Instagram.