By JILL COLVIN and MICHAEL R. SISAK Associated Press
NEW YORK (AP) – The Trump administration on Tuesday published a list of more than 440 federal properties it had identified to close or sell, including the Nathaniel R. Jones Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in downtown Youngstown, after deeming them “not core to government operations.”
Hours later, however, the administration issued a revised list with only 320 entries. And by Wednesday morning, the list was gone. “Non-core property list (Coming soon)” the page read.
The General Services Administration, which published the lists, did not immediately respond to questions about the changes or why the properties that had been listed had been removed.
The initial list had included some of the country’s most recognizable buildings, along with courthouses, offices and even parking garages and spanned nearly every state. In Washington, D.C., it included the J. Edgar Hoover Building, which serves as FBI headquarters, the Robert F. Kennedy Department of Justice Building, the Old Post Office building, where President Donald Trump once ran a hotel, and the American Red Cross headquarters. The headquarters of numerous agencies, including Department of Labor and the Department of Housing and Urban Development, were listed as well.
“We are identifying buildings and facilities that are not core to government operations, or non-core properties for disposal,” the GSA said of the initial list of 443 properties. Selling the properties “ensures that taxpayer dollars are no longer spent on vacant or underutilized federal space,” it said, and “helps eliminate costly maintenance and allows us to reinvest in high-quality work environments that support agency missions.”
The Nathaniel R. Jones Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in Youngstown – a prominent downtown structure that’s known for its standout architectural presence – was named for Judge Nathaniel R. Jones, a civil rights activist and attorney born in the Smoky Hollow district of Youngstown. Jones became legal counsel for the NAACP, an assistant U.S. attorney appointed by Robert F. Kennedy and later served as a federal judge for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit in Cincinnati. Jones died in 2020.
Just last year, the Youngstown federal building was awarded $750,000 to restore native plants at the site through GSA’s Good Neighbor Program. In 2002, the building was constructed under the GSA Design Excellence program, an “initiative to create and preserve a legacy of outstanding buildings for future generations,” according to a GSA profile of the Jones Federal Building.
Other Ohio buildings on the initial list included the Anthony J. Celebrezze Federal Building in Cleveland, the Bricker Federal Building and federal parking facility in Columbus, the Donald J. Pease Federal Building in Medina, the John Weld Peck building in Cincinnati and a warehouse in Dayton.
The Business Journal contributed to this report.
Pictured at top: The Nathaniel R. Jones Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in Youngstown.