COLUMBIA, S.C. — A public meeting could determine the fate of nine federal properties spread throughout Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina when the Public Buildings Reform Board (PBRB) gathers in Charleston on Thursday, January 29.
The properties under consideration were selected for their relatively low use, high cost of required maintenance, and monetary burden on US taxpayers. The properties are:
- Charleston, SC
- U.S. Custom House, 200 E Bay Street
- Columbia, SC
- Strom Thurmond Federal Building, 1835 Assembly Street
- Strom Thurmond Courthouse, 1845 Assembly Street
- Matthew J. Perry Jr. Parking Deck, 1103 Laurel Street
- Jacksonville, FL
- Charles E. Bennett Federal Building, 400 W. Bay Street
- Savannah, GA
- U.S. Custom House, 1-3 E Bay Street
- Juliette Gordon Low Federal Building, 136 Barnard Street
- West Palm Beach, FL
- Paul G. Rogers Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse, 701 Clematis Street
- AUTEC Federal Building, 801 Clematis Street
The PBRB is an independent, bipartisan agency established under the Federal Assets Sale and Transfer Act of 2016 to provide expertise and recommendations to the federal government and Congress on reducing the federal real property portfolio. The agency has worked closely with commercial real estate company Jones Lang Lasalle to analyze the nine Southeast properties currently under consideration and met with local leaders, commercial real estate executives, historic preservation organizations, and other stakeholders in the cities with properties on the list in a series of one-on-one meetings in September 2025.
PBRB is not a part of DOGE or GSA and does not sell federal properties, dictate the use of properties once they are sold, direct federal employee consolidations, or have input into efforts to downsize the federal workforce. Its recommendations are made solely with the expectation that they subsequently will be used by Congress, GSA, and other federal agencies to consolidate and improve the federal real property portfolio and keep federal employees in the same job market…