Trump Administration targets cutting 5% of commercial real estate space leased by federal agencies in CT
PHOTO | COSTAR
The Stilts office building at 20 Church St., in downtown Hartford, is home to a federal lease being targeted for elimination.
The federal government is looking to eliminate six leases in Connecticut, totaling more than 32,000 square feet of office space, as part of a Trump Administration drive to cut spending.
Across the nation, Trump's Department of Government Efficiency has cut hundreds of leases. In Connecticut, these range from an $8,400 annual lease of a nearly acre-sized parking lot and small garage building in Hartford, to a 24,647-square-foot lease in downtown Hartford’s Stilts Building, which cost $671,727 annually.
The lease in the Stilts Building, at 20 Church St., provides space for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
It wasn't immediately clear if these leases have already been terminated, or if they are just being targeted for termination.
The federal government has 55 leases in Connecticut, totaling 678,647 square feet of office space, according to a database published by the U.S. General Services Administration. DOGE has targeted six leases, totaling 32,771 square feet of office space, plus the Hartford parking lot, and costing $975,229 annually.
The cuts represent 5% of space leased by federal agencies in Connecticut.
Nationally, DOGE has terminated 748 leases totaling nearly 9.6 million square feet of space with about $660 million in annual lease savings, according to its website.
The cuts come at a particularly difficult time for landlords in the office market, which has been hard-hit by a post-pandemic shift to remote work. The Stilts Building, in Hartford, is being run by a court-appointed receiver during ongoing foreclosure proceedings.
The loss of the federal tenant is another blow to the Stilts Building and the Hartford market, said Ben Schlossberg, managing member of Shelbourne Global Solutions, a real estate investment company that owns a significant amount of downtown Hartford office space.
The U.S. General Services Administration implemented a strategy to ensure efficient use of property and reduce the federal government’s footprint in 2015, according to its website. DOGE, created in the wake of Donald Trump’s January inauguration, has rapidly accelerated efforts to shrink the amount of space leased by various federal agencies across the country.
The strategy is not totally uncommon. As part of a cost-saving initiative, former Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy led an effort to purchase two major office buildings in downtown Hartford so the state could consolidate leases in the newly purchased properties.
DOGE has claimed its cuts to federal spending have saved the country billions of dollars, but the agency has struggled to catalog the alleged savings, according to the New York Times. Over the weekend, DOGE deleted hundreds of erroneous claims about supposed savings related to canceled contracts, totaling $4 billion.
Trump and other administration officials have repeatedly said DOGE’s efforts are being led by billionaire Elon Musk, while the administration’s lawyers have argued in court Musk is simply an advisor to the president, according to NBC News.
The Hartford Business Journal matched the list of DOGE cuts with information from the U.S. General Services Administration and other sources. The resulting lists of cuts include:
- A $671,727 annual lease of 24,647 square feet at 20 Church St. (the Stilts Building) in Hartford. The office is used by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
- An $8,400 annual lease of a nearly acre-sized parking lot with a small garage at 380 Sheldon St., in Hartford. The lot is owned by Connecticut Light & Power and is used by the federal government for “fleet maintenance,” according to DOGE.
- A $71,191 annual lease of a 1,380-square-foot office inside a city-owned office building at 888 Washington Blvd, in Stamford. The office hosts the U.S. EPA’s Region 2 Long Island Sound office.
- An $80,590 annual lease of a 2,711-square-foot office at 97 Barnes Road in Wallingford. The office hosted an invasive species containment and control office for the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
- A $41,732 annual lease of a 1,303-square-foot office in a four-story office building at 5 Cove Road in New London. The office hosted an administrative law judge courtroom for the U.S. Department of Labor.
- An $89,058 annual lease of a 2,730-square-foot office for the International Trade Administration in a 13-story office building at 213 Court St. in Middletown.
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