The Major General Emmett J. Bean Federal Center in Lawrence is the largest of the buildings on the U.S. General Services Administration’s proposed disposal list. Photo from the U.S. General Services Administration.

By Casey Smith
Indiana Capital Chronicle

INDIANAPOLIS — Three federally owned buildings in Indiana could be at risk after President Donald Trump’s administration announced plans to sell hundreds of properties nationwide as part of federal cost-saving efforts.

The General Services Administration, which handles the government’s real estate portfolio, announced Tuesday that it is considering selling off hundreds of assets deemed “not core to government operations.”

An initial list included 440 buildings up for “disposal,” which could mean a sale or property transfer. Later Tuesday, the list was scaled back to 320 properties, although Indiana’s three properties remained.

The GSA appeared to remove the list as of Wednesday morning, but the agency said it expects to republish it “in the near future.”

Possibly on the chopping block are the Major General Emmett J. Bean Federal Center in Lawrence, at the heart of the former Fort Benjamin Harrison Military Base; the Minton-Capehart Federal Building in downtown Indianapolis and the Lee H. Hamilton Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in New Albany, near the Ohio River.

The federal government owns 10 properties across Indiana, plus another 97 leases for other spaces. The website for Elon Musk’s government overhaul operation, known as the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, shows five such leases in the Hoosier State have already terminated.

It’s unclear when — or if — any action will taken to offload the buildings.

U.S. Rep. André Carson at an Indianapolis rally. Photo by Whitney Downard, Indiana Capital Chronicle.

Democratic U.S. Rep. André Carson provided new information on other cuts, too, indicating that DOGE has separately and “arbitrarily terminated contract funding” for a feasibility study necessary to start construction of a new U.S Department of Veteran Affairs medical facility planned in Indianapolis. Congress previously earmarked $2.3 million to get the project underway.

Numerous other state and federal elected officials declined or didn’t respond to requests for comment.

Buildings In Jeopardy

GSA officials said the agency would decide whether the government should sell off the buildings.

The announcement advances a major priority for DOGE, which has fixated on eliminating “underutilized” federal office space.

DOGE, which is not an actual department, keeps a running list of savings it claims to have achieved, including lease terminations. Even so, The New York Times has reported the DOGE “wall of receipts” has had to delete some claims that were in error.

At 1.58 million square feet — spanning 72 acres at 56th Street and North Post Road in the northeast Indianapolis area — the Emmett Bean Federal Center is the largest of the buildings on GSA’s disposal list. The complex serves as a hub for numerous federal agencies and departments and thousands of government employees.

Carson said it is the second largest federal building after the Pentagon.

It’s notably the headquarters for the Defense Finance and Accounting Service, which handles payroll for all military and civilian employees, as well as retirees and major defense contractors and vendors. The facility houses 4,000 of the service’s nearly 13,000 employees, according to the GSA.

Gordon, who served as economic development director for former Indianapolis Mayor Bart Peterson, recalled efforts in 2005 to save the federal center after the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission proposed its closure.

A bipartisan effort that included Peterson, a Democrat, and then-Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels successfully kept the building open — and even expanded its operations. But Gordon worries that work could soon be erased.

Additionally, the nearly 400,000-square-foot Minton-Capehart Federal Building in downtown Indianapolis houses offices for the VA, the Internal Revenue Service, the Social Security Administration and other agencies.

The Indiana Lawyer reported in January that a new immigration court opened in the building, employing some 40 employees, including seven immigration judges.

The federal building in New Albany houses both the U.S. District and bankruptcy courts for southern Indiana.

Leases At Risk, Too

In addition to the “non-core” buildings, the Trump administration has additionally announced hundreds of terminated leases for about 9.6 million square feet of space nationally.

DOGE listed 748 federal office lease terminations on its website as of Wednesday, including five agency locations in Carmel, Fishers, Griffith, South Bend and Vincennes.

The website lists the square footage and potential savings of terminated agreements but does not detail the addresses or types of leases for the Indiana offices.

That included a $28,745 annual lease for a 1,734-square-foot Food and Drug Administration space in South Bend and a $85,467 lease for a 3,170-square-foot U.S. Army Corps of Engineers office in Griffith.

According to the DOGE, the total savings from canceled Indiana leases would add up to roughly $416,000.

It remains unclear, however, whether a lease termination will actually force agency offices to close. A GSA inventory map of federal properties within Indiana still shows leases in all five of the cities listed on the DOGE website.

Next Steps Uncertain

A GSA spokesperson told States Newsroom on Wednesday that after the agency published the “non-core” buildings list Tuesday, it “received an overwhelming amount of interest.”

There’s no public timeline for GSA building shakeups.

Indiana’s Republican U.S. Sen. Todd Young declined to comment on the “non-core” building list. Fellow GOP U.S. Sen. Jim Banks did not respond to a request for comment, nor did Indiana Gov. Mike Braun or Rep. Erin Houchin, whose southern Indiana district includes the federal courthouse in New Albany.