Meanwhile, after touring the Cohen building on Wednesday, Democratic Representative Lloyd Doggett of Texas said, “I really think we need to look at doing more to prevent it from being sold.”
The GSA, the executive branch agency in charge of most federal real estate, lists 47 government buildings around the country for “accelerated disposition.” The Trump White House has been especially keen to unload four of these, all located in Southwest Washington: the Cohen building, the GSA Regional Office Building, the Liberty Loan building, and the Robert C. Weaver Federal Building. On Wednesday, the GSA announced that it had sold the GSA Regional Office Building; in addition The Wall Street Journal and the Washington Business Journal reported that the Liberty Loan building was under contract to be sold.
We know the White House is eager to get rid of these four properties because in December Mydelle Wright, a well-regarded former preservationist for the GSA, stated in an unrelated court proceeding (document here) that the White House, “acting on its own and not through GSA,” solicited bids to demolish them. In response, the GSA issued a non-denial denial that you can read here. Bulldozing these four buildings would be illegal for multiple reasons, not least because the Cohen building and the Weaver building (the latter a Marcel Breuer–designed former headquarters for the Housing and Urban Development Department) are on the National Register of Historic Places, In addition, the Liberty Loan building has been designated eligible for the National Register, which also extends certain protections. Perhaps in deference to these obstacles, or maybe just because news of the planned demolition caused a ruckus in the preservation community, the Trump administration decided not to demolish but to sell.