The J. Edgar Hoover Building, which serves as headquarters of the FBI, is famous for its brutalist design. Credit: Wikimedia Commons / Brunswyk

The Trump administration on Tuesday released, revised, then deleted a list of 440 federal buildings it wants to close or sell, including several in Texas and one in San Antonio, the Associated Press reports.

Before it was deleted, the list included some of the nation’s most recognizable federal buildings, including the J. Edgar Hoover Building, which serves as FBI headquarters. The list also included the Washington D.C. headquarters for the Department of Labor, Health and Human Services and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
The Texas properties include multiple structures in Houston and Austin, a Del Rio probation building and courthouses and federal buildings spread across El Paso, Fort Worth and Dallas. A downtown parking garage was the sole San Antonio property listed.

Many of the Texas buildings included in the original document were in Austin, public TV station KERA reports. In addition to a Veterans Administration auto center, child care facility and finance center,  the properties include an IRS service center and the historic J.J. Jake Pickle Federal building, which once housed campaign offices for Lyndon B. Johnson and George W. Bush.

The federal government has recently invested in several of the Texas properties with extensive renovations. The Austin Finance Center recently underwent a $38 million modernization, including a new roof, heating and ventilation, KERA News reports. A Farmers Branch federal building recently got $500,000 in updates.

The GSA’s statement says the properties fated for “disposal” are “functionally obsolete” and sitting empty. However, the numbers tell a different story for at least some of the properties. KERA News reports that the 22-story George Thomas Mickey Leland building in Houston, which houses Ted Cruz’s office and housed the late Sylvester Turner’s office, have a 95% occupancy rate. The effort appears to be spearheaded by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), KERA reports.

The General Services Administration released its list of 440 federal properties early Tuesday morning. Hours later, the list only included 320. However, by 10 a.m., the list was gone entirely.

The website now says “Non-core property list (coming soon).”


In a statement, the GSA’s Public Buildings Service said a majority of the “non-core” properties were office spaces.

“Decades of funding deficiencies have resulted in many of these buildings becoming functionally obsolete and unsuitable for use by our federal workforce,” agency officials wrote.

Last month, GSA regional offices received orders from their Washington headquarters to terminate leases for 7,500 offices nationwide, or as many as 300 a day, the Associated Press reports.

Federal workers had not been notified in advance that their buildings would be put up for sale, according to KERA.

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This article appears in Feb 19-25, 2025.

Stephanie Koithan is the Digital Content Editor of the San Antonio Current. In her role, she writes about politics, music, art, culture and food. Send her a tip at skoithan@sacurrent.com.