Will these 5 KY federal buildings be sold? Confusion mounts as another DOGE list disappears
The federal agency that oversees property and leases for the government listed five Kentucky federal buildings as “non-core” and likely for sale on Tuesday, but by Wednesday the list of properties had disappeared from the website.
It’s not clear if those federal Kentucky properties will be sold.
The General Services Administration had listed these five properties as “non-core,” or not essential to the federal government’s missions:
- Romano L. Mazzoli Federal Building in Louisville
- Carl D. Perkins Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in Ashland
- The William H. Natcher Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in Bowling Green
- U.S. Courthouse in London
- U.S. Post Office & Courthouse in Pikeville
The Mazzoli building in downtown Louisville, at more than 400,000 square feet, is by far the largest of the five. Multiple federal agencies operate out of the building at 600 Martin Luther King Jr. Place.
It was also not clear exactly which courthouse in London the federal government may have been trying to unload. There is an old federal courthouse, and a new one on Main Street in downtown London.
The original list included 440 buildings across the country.
But after questions arose about properties on the list, which originally included many federal buildings in downtown Washington D.C., the list was removed from the GSA’s website on Wednesday, according to the Washington Post.
The website now says the list of non-core federal properties is “coming soon.”
“GSA currently owns and maintains over 440 non-core assets comprising almost 80 million rentable square feet across the nation and representing over $8.3 billion in recapitalization needs,” the GSA said in a Tuesday statement.
“Decades of funding deficiencies have resulted in many of these buildings becoming functionally obsolete and unsuitable for use by our federal workforce,” the statement said.
The GSA said it would dispose of or divest from those properties in an “orderly fashion” to make sure taxpayers don’t pay for unused or underutilized space.
GSA also said it would consider lease-backs, which could mean a private landlord could buy the building and the government could lease the office space.
On Wednesday, Ashland Mayor Chuck D. Charles said it was too early to make a statement about the potential loss of the federal building in downtown.
“I’d sure hate to lose it,” however, he said.
Charles said one would have to believe there is an economic benefit to the city having a downtown courthouse, and there also is prestige in having a federal court locally.
Charles said he is an optimist and could see other potential opportunities for the building if the federal government disposes of it, “especially if they gave it to us.”
“It’s a prime location,” he said.
Peter Kaplan, spokesman for the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, said the agency had no comment.
DOGE and confusion over KY federal properties
The effort to offload some federal properties is part of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency to slash spending, which includes shuttering federal offices and terminating employees.
But the cost-cutting push has been filled with missteps and backtracking in Kentucky and nationwide, creating confusion.
For example, the DOGE website listed a Campbellsville Social Security Administration office for sale. But a representative for the landlord of the building said Monday the GSA later rescinded the termination of the lease. Only a small portion of the building that was once used for Social Security administration appeals — and is rarely used as most of those hearings are conducted online —will be closed.
DOGE”s website also lists a Lexington location of the Office of Surface Mining, Reclamation and Enforcement as having its lease terminated. However, the landlord of the property said he has not received notice from the GSA the lease has been nixed. The Office of Surface Mining, Reclamation and Enforcement said the office remains open.
Meanwhile, DOGE’s website also lists seven Mine Safety Health Administration offices in Kentucky for possible closure. The federal agency is tasked with inspecting mines, among other duties related to mine safety.
Officials with the mine safety agency have not returned emails or phone calls asking if those offices will close.
This story was originally published March 5, 2025 at 11:25 AM.
