USDA selling its flagship South Building in Washington, relocating staff

By Karl Plume

CHICAGO, Feb ‌25 (Reuters) - The ​U.S. ​Department of Agriculture is selling its flagship South Building office hub on the National Mall in ‌Washington, D.C., and relocating employees to other locations across ⁠the country by the end of the year, the agency said on ‌Wednesday.

The move to vacate ‌and sell the massive but aging building is part of a broader cost-cutting initiative at the department, Agriculture Secretary ​Brooke Rollins said, citing high maintenance costs and low occupancy.

Thousands of USDA employees have taken buyouts and left ⁠the department over the past year amid Republican U.S. President Donald Trump's effort to ​reshape and reduce the size and footprint of the federal government.

"At one time, the South Building ​was the beating heart of USDA, ‌alive with research and teeming with activity decades ago. But today, it is a shell ⁠of what it once was," Rollins said at a press conference outside the building on Wednesday.

The building will be turned over ⁠to the government's General Services Administration for sale, Rollins said as Iowa ​Senator Joni Ernst unveiled a "For Sale By Owner" sign.

The flagship USDA property, built in the U.S. capital in the 1930s, has $1.6 billion in ‌delinquent maintenance costs while about 80% of its offices are vacant, GSA Administrator Edward Forst ‌said.

The USDA has said it is planning to relocate much ⁠of its remaining staff in ‌the U.S. capital to ​hubs in North Carolina, Missouri, Indiana, Colorado and Utah.

(Reporting by Karl Plume in Chicago; Editing by Will ‌Dunham)

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