The Trump administration has been making significant progress in reducing the federal government’s real estate footprint. The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) recently announced the termination of leases for over 2.3 million square feet of office space, resulting in estimated savings of $60 billion. These savings were achieved through various measures such as fraud detection, contract cancellations and renegotiations, asset sales, grant cancellations, workforce reductions, programmatic changes, and regulatory rollbacks. The publicly available data from DOGE indicates that the contract value of these terminated leases is $78,763,113.
Most of the real estate reduction has occurred in Washington, D.C., where more than half of the 2.33 million square feet of terminated leases were located. Notable examples include the Department of Labor’s 845,389-square-foot lease and the Federal Trade Commission’s 259,130-square-foot lease. Atlanta also stands out, primarily due to the Department of Health and Human Services’ 119,812-square-foot footprint, along with smaller but still significant holdings from the Food and Drug Administration and the Federal Trade Commission. It’s worth noting that some properties listed in DOGE’s data do not have recorded square footage, likely due to specialized usage, shared facilities, or incomplete records.
These lease cancellations align with President Donald Trump’s goal of reducing the size of the federal government. The administration has been actively cutting federal headcount, leading to layoffs and buyouts for employees. Additionally, remaining workers are being required to return to the office full-time in person. In line with these efforts, the General Services Administration (GSA), which manages most of the government’s property, has announced plans to sell off approximately half of its real estate holdings.
According to the Associated Press, the GSA has instructed regional managers to begin terminating leases nationwide, potentially affecting up to 7,500 offices. As of September, the GSA owned or leased more than 363 million square feet of space across 8,397 buildings. However, this number is expected to significantly decrease as the termination of leases continues. Some agencies affected by the cancellations have already relocated to existing federal buildings, while others have closed their offices entirely. Some agencies will continue to occupy their spaces until their lease terminations take effect, as government contracts often require continued payment until expiration.
The ongoing updates from DOGE provide valuable insights into the administration’s broader efforts to downsize government office space and its workforce. While these measures aim to cut costs and improve efficiency, they also raise questions about the potential impact on the office market. With high vacancy rates and declining demand already posing challenges, the long-term implications of these newly vacated or soon-to-be-vacated spaces remain uncertain. Landlords, investors, and local economies will need to navigate the potential fallout.
[Table of terminated leases and their values has been removed to avoid duplication.]
