HUD HQ moving from DC to Virginia, saving taxpayers over $500M and other agencies may follow suit

ALEXANDRIA, Va.— The Department of Housing and Urban Development will be the first major cabinet agency to relocate out of the nation’s capital during President Trump’s second term — a move that could save taxpayers “hundreds of millions” of dollars and be imitated by other agencies, officials predict.“We’re going to turn the page by relocating HUD,” announced Michael Peters, a General Services Administration (GSA) public buildings commissioner in a Wednesday morning briefing.“Taxpayers are going to save over $500 million in deferred maintenance, as well as $56 million in annual operating and maintenance expenses.”The building that HUD is moving out of raised “serious concerns” for the safety of employees, added HUD Secretary Scott Turner at the Wednesday press conference.“Many of these risks,” he added, would “needlessly and irresponsibly continue to absorb taxpayer dollars.”The rundown HUD headquarters also runs far below its full capacity.

With every member of HUD’s staff in person, the building only reaches half its total occupancy.The federal department will put down new roots across the Potomac River in Alexandria, Va., leaving behind a 1970s-era brutalist structure in southwest in Washington, DC.“Our team went to work immediately and presented lots of sites around Virginia that could be chosen by HUD or by other agencies and departments,” said Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin (R), hinting that other federal agencies may soon follow HUD into the Commonwealth.“I do believe that we have great locations, world-class facilities, great places for people to work and to live, all at very efficient cost relative to what many many of these departments are paying today,” added Youngkin.“We look forward to continuing this dialogue.”HUD’s relocation is part of a broader effort to sell off federal properties that have been a drain on US taxpayer dollars, Trump officials say.The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE),...