HUD to Relocate D.C. Headquarters to NSF Building in Alexandria

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has cemented plans to relocate from what current HUD Secretary Scott Turner described as “the ugliest building in D.C.”

HUD on Wednesday unveiled plans to move its headquarters from the Brutalist-style Robert C. Weaver Federal Building in Southwest D.C. to 2415 Eisenhower Avenue in Alexandria, Va. The roughly 700,000-square-foot Virginia property, developed by Affinius Capital and Lowe Enterprises, currently houses the National Science Foundation (NSF). 

HUD will eventually take over the entire building from NSF via a staggered relocation process, Michael Peters, the General Service Administration’s Public Building Service (PBS) commissioner, said at a press conference on Wednesday. An exact timeline for the department’s move is still to be determined, but PBS will work with NSF to identify its best relocation option, Peters added.

The department expects HUD’s move to save hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars on deferred maintenance and upgrades at the Weaver Building, alongside tens of millions in annual upkeep costs.

“It is time to turn the page on the Weaver Building and relocate to a new headquarters that prioritizes the well-being of HUD employees and properly reflects the passion and excellence of our team,” Turner said in a statement. “There are serious concerns with the current state of HUD’s headquarters including health hazards, leaks, and structural and maintenance failures. Many of these risks will needlessly and irresponsibly continue to absorb taxpayer dollars.”

More than 1,800 NSF employees currently work in the building. Relocation plans for the NSF were not immediately available. 

The 10-story, 1.3 million-square-foot Weaver Building has served as HUD’s home since 1968. The property has lately found itself in the crosshairs of the Trump administration, particularly amid the non-governmental Department of Government Efficiency’s cost-cutting efforts earlier this year. President Donald Trump issued an executive order in January directing federal buildings to respect “classical architectural heritage,” in a not-so-subtle dig at the stark, Brutalist architecture of properties like the Weaver Building. 

Yet HUD had planned to downsize its portfolio even before Trump took office. 

As part of the General Service Administration’s long-running effort to shrink the federal real estate footprint, HUD had already reduced its portfolio by nearly 700,000 square feet between 2012 and 2023, according to a report issued by the Biden administration last year. The Department said at the time that it planned to reduce its portfolio by an additional 60 percent by 2038. That included plans to eventually “collapse” four satellite offices into the Weaver Building, though it wasn’t clear if the department will continue those plans at 2415 Eisenhower.

The union representing NSF workers isn’t thrilled about the decision, however. American Federation of Government Workers Local 3403 said in a statement that NSF employees would be displaced with “no plan, no communication and no respect,” calling HUD’s move a “callous disregard for taxpayer dollars.”

The union did say, however, that HUD’s plans for the space include a dedicated suite for Turner on the 19th floor, complete with “the construction of an executive dining room; reserved parking spaces for the secretary’s five cars; exclusive use of one elevator for the secretary;” and a “potential gym for the secretary and his family.”

“This kind of let-them-eat-cake approach to government is absurd,” the union wrote. “At a time when they claim to be cutting government waste, it is unbelievable that government funding is being redirected to build a palace-like office for the secretary of Housing and Urban Development. The hypocrisy is truly dumbfounding.”

Turner called the union’s complaints “ridiculous and untrue” at Wednesday’s press conference. 

“This is not about Scott Turner, it’s never been about Scott Turner” he said. “This is about the HUD employees, to have a safe space, to have a nice place to work, to represent the people we serve in America. This is not about the secretary, this is about the posterity and the future of HUD, not just for now but for the people that are coming behind me … working here is a sacrifice for all of the people that work in the federal government, including the secretary.”

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