The US Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) move from its Washington, DC headquarters to Alexandria, Virginia is in progress, but the agency still hasn’t told Congress, the public or its own employees how much the move will cost. And meanwhile, the longtime home of the agency’s headquarters in DC, the Robert C. Weaver Federal Building, has found itself in the crosshairs of the White House, which sought bids to demolish the building last year, court records show.
In June last year, HUD announced plans to move from the Weaver building to the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) office building in Alexandria. The plan was an unhappy surprise to NSF’s staff, which was still working in the building and lacked information on when they’d leave and where they’d go before HUD took over the building.
HUD has said leaving the Weaver building, which suffers from $500 million in deferred maintenance, will save taxpayers millions of dollars. But that’s impossible to confirm without knowing how much the move will actually cost. HUD didn’t respond to an interview request or answer how much the move will cost.
An agency budget update from December only hints at the costs of the move, which include $26.2 million for NSF’s relocation costs and $57 million to cover liability on previous capital improvements to the Weaver building. HUD didn’t answer how much of the $26.2 million is going toward NSF’s new office lease.
After HUD announced the move last year, the Senate and House appropriations committees sent the agency and the General Services Administration (GSA) a series of questions on the cost, funding sources for the move and how the decision was reached.
“The agencies were unable to answer most questions at that time, raising concerns about the decision-making process and now rushed execution,” said a February letter from Democratic Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand (New York), Jack Reed (Rhode Island) and Chris Van Hollen (Maryland) to the US Government Accountability Office (GAO). “Months later, HUD continues to only provide piecemeal and partial responses to the (appropriations) committees as well as its own staff.”
A demolition wish
In the letter, the lawmakers asked the GAO to investigate HUD’s decision to move to the NSF building and whether the move raises concerns about fraud, waste or mismanagement. The lawmakers said the selection of the NSF building “does not appear to have been based on a thorough analysis of alternatives” and asked the office to examine who made the decision and if plans to demolish the Weaver building played a role.
In December, Mydelle Wright, founding director of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building Preservation Office, said in a statement in a Cultural Heritage Partners lawsuit against President Donald Trump that the White House had sought bids or was finalizing a bid package to demolish four federal buildings in DC, including the Weaver building. GSA “has sole authority over this process,” she said, but “key GSA personnel have only just learned of the White House’s activities.”
Wright said the GSA hadn’t made efforts to receive public and expert input on the potential demolitions, which is required under the National Historic Preservation Act and National Environmental Policy Act.
She said GSA leaders are “struggling with an untenable situation,” adding: “For the first time of which I am aware, a president is personally involved in facilitating end-runs around the agency’s obligations to the buildings that are our national heritage, and who in the agency is going to tell him ‘no?’”
HUD didn’t answer if the agency’s move was related to the White House’s interest in demolishing the Weaver building or if the White House instructed HUD to move out of the building.
HUD will also pay for Potomac Center offices in DC to abide by federal law
HUD employees have had long-standing concerns with health issues they believe are connected to the Weaver building, and American Federation of Government Employees Local 476 has spent years raising those concerns to the agency. Last year, the union told Streetlight it supports moving out of the building, but not out of DC, which will dramatically increase workers’ commutes.
The union and lawmakers have also questioned the legality of the move. The law establishing HUD requires the agency to be in DC, unless Congress passes a law allowing it to be headquartered elsewhere. Ginnie Mae is also required by law to have its main office in DC. When asked about this, HUD told lawmakers the agency and Ginnie Mae would have offices at the Potomac Center, an office complex in DC, to meet the requirements, according to the letter to the GAO.
HUD proposed firing a union official in February after they raised concerns about the move with agency leaders, Politico reported last month.
A HUD email to employees said most workers would move to the Alexandria building by the week of April 6, Government Executive reported. The publication reported about two weeks ago that employees who had moved to the new building still didn’t have access to WiFi.
Employees have said HUD still hasn’t answered questions about parking and whether the new headquarters will have childcare. HUD didn’t answer if the Alexandria building has obtained WiFi or if it will have childcare for staff.
Last year, the union that represents NSF workers said HUD planned to make changes to the building that would directly benefit HUD Secretary Scott Turner, including a gym for him and his family and an executive dining room. A spokesperson for HUD told Streetlight at the time that the agency wasn’t planning to build an executive dining room and the gym would be available to all staff.
At a US House Committee on Financial Services hearing in January, Turner also said the gym will be for all HUD staff and that the building wouldn’t have an executive dining room.
When Rep. Maxine Waters (D-California) asked how much the move will cost, he wouldn’t answer, saying, “Our move will save the American taxpayer hundreds of millions of dollars.”
“Either you know it or you don’t,” Waters said, “or you don’t want to tell me.”
Contact Streetlight editor Mollie Bryant at 405-990-0988 or bryant@streetlightnews.org. Follow her reporting on Bluesky or by joining our newsletter.
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