Federal buildings in Massachusetts listed among those set for ‘disposal’

FALL RIVER, Mass. (WLNE) — The United States General Services Administration said that the Public Buildings Service has identified a number of federal buildings, labeled as “non-core assets,” to be “disposed.”

On a webpage, that now states that the list is “coming soon,” the U.S. Custom House in New Bedford and the Social Security Administration building in Fall River were listed among the non-core assets set for disposal.

“GSA will consider non-core assets for divestment from government ownership in an orderly fashion to ensure taxpayers no longer pay for empty and underutilized federal office space, or the significant maintenance costs associated with long-term building ownership — potentially saving more than $430 million in annual operating costs,” the administration said in a statement.

The GSA added that the non-core assets were determined to be “functionally obsolete and unsuitable for use by our federal workforce,” and that an $8.3 billion investment would be needed for renovations.

When reached for comment, the Social Security Administration said that it was “working with the GSA” to ensure leases and buildings are “used efficiently.”

“Most of the leases we are not renewing are for small remote hearing sites that are co-located with other Federal space,” read a statement. “As the majority of our hearings are held virtually, we no longer need as many in-person hearings locations.”

The full statement from the Social Security Administration can be read below:

We are working with GSA to review our leases and ensure they are used efficiently. Most of the leases we are not renewing are for small remote hearing sites that are co-located with other Federal space. As the majority of our hearings are held virtually, we no longer need as many in-person hearings locations. In fact, in FY24, twenty percent of these offices held no in-person hearings. Other offices are non-public facing, being consolidated into nearby locations, or we had planned to close. Social Security continuously monitors and evaluates the use of our office space to maximize efficiency for the American taxpayer.

The full statement from the General Services Administration can be found here.