Trump Administration Downsizes DOJ Office Lease in D.C.
The $243M deal is a roughly 30% reduction at a property specifically developed for DOJ
By Nick Trombola April 22, 2025 6:35 pm
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The General Services Administration (GSA) has signed a major lease renewal in Washington, D.C., for the Department of Justice (DOJ). The move counters the Trump administration’s trend of severe lease cuts the past few months — but the new deal is still a significant downsize for the federal agency.
The DOJ will remain in its space at 145 N Street NE, a building specifically developed for the agency, for a 15-year term with a five-year extension option. However, the lease is for 403,000 square feet, a nearly 30 percent reduction from the agency’s current 575,000-square-foot lease.
Northwestern Mutual is the landlord of the property in D.C.’s NoMa neighborhood, dubbed Two Constitution Square, having purchased it from developer Stonebridge for $305 million upon its completion in 2010. The DOJ’s new lease is valued at $243 million.
The building is a secondary office for the DOJ; its 1.2 million-square-foot headquarters is at the Robert F. Kennedy Department of Justice Building, which the GSA owns.
The DOJ’s deal is likely the largest federal office lease signed so far since President Donald Trump took over in January, according to Bisnow, which first reported the news. Cushman & Wakefield‘s Darian LeBlanc and Scott Killie represented Northwest Mutual, while CBRE‘s Henry Chapman and Richard Downey represented the GSA in the deal, per Bisnow.
The Trump administration’s attitude toward leases has otherwise skewed negative — the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency has claimed to have terminated 643 federal leases within the past few months, including at major office buildings in D.C. That includes the Department of Labor’s 835,000-square-foot lease Postal Square near D.C.’s Union Station.
The Trump administration has also pushed for federal agencies to look outside of the DMV and downtown urban centers for their offices. Aside from a recent executive order directing agencies to disregard such previous guidance, agencies also had until the beginning of last week to submit potential relocation plans outside of the District.
Nick Trombola can be reached at ntrombola@commercialobserver.com.
