Government watchers swift enough to view a list of 443 federal properties that could be put up for sale posted Tuesday on the U.S. General Services Administration website might have seen a pair of Hawaii properties deemed “not core to government operations” and eligible for “disposal”: the Federal Building, U.S. Post Office and Courthouse in Hilo and the Fort Armstrong Parking Lot in Honolulu. 

What You Need To Know

  • The Trump administration has discussed selling unused or non-essential properties as part of its overall campaign to reduce costs across the federal government

  • The list posted by GSA originally included the FBI headquarters at the J. Edgar Hoover Building, the Robert F. Kennedy Department of Justice Building, the Department of Housing and Urban Development and other notable properties.

  • By Wednesday, the list was withdrawn entirely

  • The Hilo Federal Building was designed by New York architect Henry Whitfield, brother-in-law of Andrew Carnegie, in 1915 and completed two years later

The Trump administration has discussed selling unused or non-essential properties as part of its overall campaign to reduce costs across the federal government. The list posted by GSA originally included the FBI headquarters at the J. Edgar Hoover Building, the Robert F. Kennedy Department of Justice Building, the Department of Housing and Urban Development and other notable properties.

Within hours, however, the list was shortened to 320 properties, with all Washington, D.C. properties among the entries removed.

By Wednesday, the list was withdrawn entirely. The page now reads, “Non-core property list (Coming soon)," with the accompanying message: “We are identifying buildings and facilities that are not core to government operations, or non-core properties, for disposal. Selling ensures that taxpayer dollars are no longer spent on vacant or underutilized federal spaces. Disposing of these assets helps eliminate costly maintenance and allows us to reinvest in high-quality work environments that support agency missions.”

However, the lists have been preserved via a searchable map created by the tech news magazine Wired and a GitHub Gist posting. 

The Hilo Federal Building was designed by New York architect Henry Whitfield, brother-in-law of Andrew Carnegie, in 1915 and completed two years later. The building, designed in Mediterranean Renaissance Revival style, was one of the first in Hawaii constructed using reinforced concrete. Additional wings were built in 1936 and 1938. The building is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

The property housed the island’s main post office and Third Circuit Court before both relocated in the 1970s. A smaller postal operation still operated in the building.

Fort Armstrong Parking Lot, located on Forrest Avenue, carries on the name of an artillery regiment established at Honolulu Harbor, near Pier 1, as part of a system of coastal artillery batteries established to protect Pearl Harbor and Honolulu in the early 1900s.

Michael Tsai covers local and state politics for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at michael.tsai@charter.com.