{"id":877929,"date":"2025-12-16T22:25:01","date_gmt":"2025-12-17T04:25:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/12\/16\/in-latest-real-estate-move-trump-appears-to-be-readying-demolition-of-4-historic-d-c-buildings\/"},"modified":"2025-12-16T22:25:01","modified_gmt":"2025-12-17T04:25:01","slug":"in-latest-real-estate-move-trump-appears-to-be-readying-demolition-of-4-historic-d-c-buildings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/12\/16\/in-latest-real-estate-move-trump-appears-to-be-readying-demolition-of-4-historic-d-c-buildings\/","title":{"rendered":"In latest real estate move, Trump appears to be readying demolition of 4 historic D.C. buildings"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div>\n<p>\n            This audio is auto-generated. Please let us know if you have <a href=\"http:\/\/www.constructiondive.com\/contact\/\">feedback<\/a>.\n        <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<h3>Dive Brief:<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><span><span><span><span><span><span>The White House appears to be moving forward with the demolition of four historically significant federal buildings outside of statutory processes, a former General Services Administration official <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.archpaper.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/20251207_Wright_SuplDecl_signed.pdf\"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span>says in a declaration<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><span><span><span><span><span><span> submitted to a federal judge at a hearing this week. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span><span><span><span><span><span>Attorneys representing the federal government said the declaration is based on hearsay and that there\u2019s no reason to assume the White House is acting outside of official channels. \u201cIt is wrong,\u201d Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Adam Gustafson and Deputy Chief Marissa Piropato said in their response to the declaration, <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2025\/12\/11\/politics\/federal-buildings-demolition-trump\"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span>CNN reported<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><span><span><span><span><span><span>. GSA, they said, is \u201cevaluating those assets not for demolition but for disposal \u2014 meaning conveyance out of federal ownership,\u201d and that GSA is following the prescribed process. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span><span><span><span><span><span>The back-and-forth comes as historic preservationists try to stop the Trump administration from painting the historically significant Eisenhower Executive Office Building, located next to the White House. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facilitiesdive.com\/news\/trump-risks-permanent-damage-to-eisenhower-executive-office-building-with-p\/805804\/\"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span>In a lawsuit<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><span><span><span><span><span><span>, preservationists say the renovation work risks permanently damaging the building\u2019s granite facade and isn\u2019t following statutory processes. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Dive Insight:<\/h3>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>The declaration, filed by former GSA official Mydelle Wright, asserts the White House is deep into the process of selecting contractors to demolish four architecturally significant buildings: the Robert C. Weaver Federal Building, the Wilbur J. Cohen Federal Building, the GSA Regional Office Building and the Liberty Loan Building.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>Critics say the buildings are examples of New Deal era architecture, which includes the heavy, raw-concrete \u201cbrutalist\u201d style popular in the post-World War II era. These are \u201cgems of America\u2019s architectural history and its collective heritage,\u201d Judith Levine, a civil liberties advocate and author, <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/commentisfree\/2025\/dec\/09\/trump-remodeling-washington-federal-architecture\"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span>says in The Guardian<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><span><span><span><span><span><span>. \u201cThey are not Trump\u2019s to dispose of, like battered file cabinets or obsolete computers.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>Earlier this year, President Trump in an executive order said he wanted federal buildings to have a classical style and he called out brutalist architecture as something that needs to go. \u201cThe Federal Government largely replaced traditional designs for new construction with modernist and brutalist ones,\u201d the <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/presidential-actions\/2025\/08\/making-federal-architecture-beautiful-again\/\"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span>executive order said<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><span><span><span><span><span><span>. \u201cThe Federal architecture that ensued \u2026 was often unpopular with Americans.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>In her declaration, Wright said the White House is not acting through GSA as required under the National Historic Preservation Act and the National Environmental Policy Act. \u201cAs far as I am aware, GSA has not conducted processes to comply with NHPA Section 106 or 110(f) or with NEPA for this undertaking for any of the four buildings,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>Instead, she said, the White House, on its own, has either solicited bids or is finalizing a bid package to \u201canalyze and recommend for demolition\u201d the four buildings.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>\u201cFor the first time of which I am aware,\u201d Wright said, \u201ca President is personally involved in facilitating end-runs around the agency\u2019s obligations to the buildings that are our national heritage, and who in the agency is going to tell him \u2018No?\u2019\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>Gregory Werkheiser, one of the law partners at Cultural Heritage Partners that filed the lawsuit to block the painting of the Eisenhower Building, said he has no confidence GSA has control over the remodeling and other work Trump is having done on high-profile buildings in Washington, D.C. This work includes demolition of the East Wing of the White House to <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facilitiesdive.com\/news\/its-not-the-addition-its-the-size-say-critics-white-house-ballroom-lengel\/756812\/\"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span>replace it with a ballroom<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><span><span><span><span><span><span> that critics say will dwarf the White House itself.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>GSA \u201cdoesn\u2019t have the president\u2019s actions under control,\u201d Werkheiser said at the hearing, <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/news.bloomberglaw.com\/us-law-week\/trump-eyeing-federal-buildings-for-demolition-ex-official-says\"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span>Bloomberg Law reported<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><span><span><span><span><span><span>.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>The four buildings are on GSA\u2019s <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gsa.gov\/real-estate\/real-estate-services\/real-property-disposition\/assets-identified-for-accelerated-disposition\"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span>list of federal buildings<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><span><span><span><span><span><span> that the agency wants to dispose of because they\u2019re obsolete or underused. The list <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facilitiesdive.com\/news\/gsa-rescinds-controversial-list-of-properties-to-sell-for-now\/741767\/\"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span>sparked an outcry<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><span><span><span><span><span><span> when it was released earlier this year because of the impact the buildings could have on real estate markets and because of the historically significant buildings that are included in it.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>Judge Dabney Friedrich of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, who presided over this week\u2019s hearing, asked attorneys on both sides to be prepared to meet again shortly. Should she issue a ruling, it will be over whether to stop the White House from moving forward with the Eisenhower Building painting until the plan has been through the statutorily prescribed process that requires reviews and public hearings to get expert and public input before the work is done.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.constructiondive.com\/news\/latest-real-estate-move-trump-demolition-gsa\/807869\/\" class=\"button purchase\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Read More<\/a><br \/>\n Robert Freedman<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This audio is auto-generated. Please let us know if you have feedback. Dive Brief: The White House appears to be moving forward with the demolition of four historically significant federal buildings outside of statutory processes, a former General Services Administration official says in a declaration submitted to a federal judge at a hearing this week.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":877930,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3031,518],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-877929","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-estate","8":"category-latest"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/877929","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=877929"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/877929\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/877930"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=877929"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=877929"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=877929"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}