News Summary
The U.S. federal government has proposed selling the Captain John Foster Williams Coast Guard Building in Boston as part of a strategy to reduce its real estate portfolio. Built in 1918, the eight-story facility could potentially be redeveloped into 110 housing units. With 247 federal employees currently stationed there, relocation plans are in place to avoid service disruption. The sale is expected to save the government significant costs, and the Public Buildings Reform Board is advocating for the sale among several other federal properties across the nation.
Boston – The U.S. federal government has identified the Captain John Foster Williams Coast Guard Building, located at 408 Atlantic Ave., as one of ten federal properties that may be sold. This decision is part of a broader strategy aimed at downsizing the federal government’s real estate portfolio and reducing the associated maintenance costs.
The Coast Guard building, an eight-story structure built in 1918, sits adjacent to the popular James Hook & Co lobster restaurant and overlooks the soon-to-be-demolished Northern Avenue Bridge. The site presents significant opportunities for redevelopment, with estimates suggesting it could be converted into 110 housing units.
Currently, there are 247 federal workers stationed at the Coast Guard office, who can be relocated to other federal properties nearby. The U.S. Coast Guard operates another, larger facility in Boston’s North End, allowing for this potential transition without disrupting services.
The decision to market this property is motivated by financial considerations, as the building is estimated to need $91 million for modernization and currently has $28 million in deferred maintenance costs. Selling the property could yield a savings of $138 million for the federal government, while relocating the Coast Guard office is projected to save more than $1 million annually in operating expenses.
The Public Buildings Reform Board (PBRB), which has made this recommendation, has already informed Senators Elizabeth Warren and Edward Markey, along with Representative Stephen Lynch, about the potential sale. However, approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is required for the recommended properties to be listed for sale, and such approval is not guaranteed.
If the sale proceeds as planned, the PBRB anticipates that the sales of the identified properties could collectively remove 7.4 million square feet from the federal real estate portfolio, leading to an estimated $5.4 billion in maintenance savings over the next 30 years.
The PBRB collaborated with real estate advisory firm Jones Lang LaSalle to identify the properties suggested for sale. The General Services Administration (GSA) is set to manage the sale process and has renewed contracts enabling the hiring of real estate brokerages for this purpose. However, as of now, the timeline for the sale process remains uncertain.
Since 2020, the PBRB has successfully facilitated the sale of ten federal properties for a total of $193 million, with an additional property currently under agreement for $130 million. This strategic move is aimed not only at modernizing the federal real estate portfolio but also at repurposing land use to serve the housing needs of the community.
Besides the Boston Coast Guard office, the PBRB has also highlighted nine other federal buildings in various cities across the nation, including Miami, Nashville, Houston, Atlanta, Chicago, and the Washington, D.C. area, for potential sale. The focused re-evaluation of federal properties indicates a concerted effort to improve federal asset management while addressing local housing shortages through potential redevelopment efforts.
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Additional Resources
- Boston Globe: Coast Guard Building Downtown Boston
- Wikipedia: United States Coast Guard
- NBC Boston: 1 Dead After Coast Guard Rescue Off Nahant
- Google Search: 2025 Coast Guard building sale
- MassLive: US Coast Guard Rescues 3 People
- Encyclopedia Britannica: Coast Guard
- WCVB: Coast Guard Rescues 3 in Boston Harbor
- Google News: Coast Guard rescues Boston
