Federal Courthouse in Downtown L.A. Added to GSA Disposal List

The General Services Administration plans to ditch another federal courthouse building in Downtown Los Angeles, the latest property dedicated to and used by the U.S. government to end up on the chopping block. 

The Spring Street Courthouse, a 751,791-square-foot historic building used by the L.A. County Superior Court, was identified for “accelerated disposition.” The agency, which manages the federal government’s real estate portfolio, could ultimately attempt to sell, trade or sale-leaseback the building at 312 North Spring Street, or some other method of disposal. 

Aside from the County’s Superior Court operations, other tenant agencies at the building include the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the National Labor Relations Board and the Small Business Administration. 

Built in the late 1930s, the Spring Street Courthouse was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2006 and designated a National Historic Landmark in 2012, meaning that redevelopment could be trickier than a typical property, and would be subject to additional review. 

The GSA did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

The courthouse’s addition to the GSA’s list is part of at least the seventh tranche to appear on the GSA’s website in recent months. A list of 443 federally owned properties, which the GSA called “non-core” assets, were posted to the website in early March, but was pulled just a day later to evaluate “initial input.” The Spring Street Courthouse is the 40th property to appear on the rejuvenated list. 

As part of the since-removed list, the agency in early March included the Federal Building, a 1.1 million-square-foot office complex at 300 North Los Angeles Street, for disposition as part of its initial list. Though the building has not reappeared on the GSA’s dispositions inventory. 

The since-deleted list also included the James C. Corman Federal Building in Van Nuys, the Glenn M. Anderson Federal Building in Long Beach, two Social Security Administration buildings in Pasadena, and the Santa Ana Federal Building in Orange County.

Alongside the GSA’s portfolio of owned spaces, Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has also been hard at work slashing federal contracts and office leases in recent months. That includes eight leases in L.A. so far, such as the Security and Exchange Commission’s nearly 58,000-square-foot office at Oaktree Capital Management’s 444 South Flower Street tower.

Other L.A. leases that DOGE claims to have cut include the GSA’s roughly 16,500-square-foot office at Jamison’s World Trade Center LA, and the Environmental Protection Agency’s roughly 13,500-square-foot office at Onni Group’s 600 Wilshire Boulevard.

Nick Trombola can be reached at ntrombola@commercialobserver.com.