President Trump signed an executive order yesterday that reprioritizes where federal government offices need to be located. Like so much of the American government these days, this order goes back to when Jimmy Carter was U.S. President. He wanted to revitalize the central business districts and support the central cities. Now given so many central business districts are suffering as a result of local, state and federal Covid policies, central districts once the source for fun, entertainment, restaurants and office workers appears to be hurting in many areas. Trump’s order guarantees that more suffering is to come with the feds potentially moving out.
The government has a lot of extra space. Lease rates are very costly in CBDs and given the actions to trim the size of the overall goverment, Trump has decided we don’t need the space and we don’t need it downtown. Also, who wants to work downtown these days? Sure there are some cities that are still doing well. But if you are in a blue state, how are your central cities doing? How’s crime? Do people feel safe? How are the restaurants and shops doing in the central business district.
In a related story, the HUD building in Washington, DC has just hit the market. The federal government has put it up for sale.
This seems like a smart move by President Trump. It’s a good move for the tax payers and federal workers I suspect. It will cause more pain though for central business districts and the owners of commercial real estate.
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