Courthouse included on list of more than 400 federal properties released Tuesday; list was abruptly taken down less than a day later

The James A. Redden U.S. Courthouse in Medford was identified Tuesday as one of 443 federal properties slated for liquidation by the Trump administration to save on maintenance and repair costs.

The list of properties slated for possible sale was posted by the General Services Administration, an agency tasked with “providing centralized procurement.” In a statement released Tuesday, GSA officials said the list of properties represented over $8.3 billion in “recapitalization needs.”

Less than 24 hours after the list was released, the original link was removed and a new link read: “Non-core property list (Coming soon),” indicating a change to come.

The GSA is tasked with the management of federal real estate holdings. It said the list released Tuesday and then altered included federal structures deemed “non-core” or non-essential to government operations.

Before being taken down, the list included the headquarters of the Justice Department, the FBI and U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The sudden change of course within less than 24 hours comes only days after the Department of Government Efficiency made headlines this week over plans to end hundreds of lease agreements for more than 700 federal agency offices.

That list, according to various media outlets, inadvertently included properties for which leases could not be ended or included properties crucial to government operations.

GSA, which states its mission as “to deliver cost-effective workspace solutions for its federal agency customers, enabling them to fulfill their missions for the American taxpayer,” said in the Tuesday statement that the properties identified for sale were chosen based on their ability to “meet the needs of federal agency customers at the best possible value.”

“Decades of funding deficiencies have resulted in many of these buildings becoming functionally obsolete and unsuitable for use by our federal workforce,” the statement continued.

“We can no longer hope that funding will emerge to resolve these longstanding issues. GSA’s decisive action to dispose of non-core assets leverages the private sector, drives improvements for our agency customers, and best serves local communities.”

Constructed from 1915 and 1916 on donated land at the corner of Sixth and Holly streets, the James A. Redden U.S. Courthouse, is the only federal courthouse south of Eugene and was designed and built at the same time that an identical courthouse was erected in Pendleton.

The building, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, has been under continual federal use as a courthouse since its construction.

In 1939, a major addition to the north side of the building and significant interior remodeling was done to accommodate additional public and workroom facilities for a post office on the first floor. Consolidated court operations moved to the second floor, and general office space was made available on the third floor.

Postal operations moved two blocks south in 1963, at which point courthouse operations and office space reclaimed the vacated portions.

In addition to the federal courthouse, the list included two other properties in Medford; a U.S. Geological Survey building and warehouse.

Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., criticized the potential liquidation of federal properties.

“Given Donald Trump’s checkered legacy in the private sector of multiple bankruptcies and real estate deals gone awry, forgive me if I’m more than a little skeptical when that dubious record gets applied to the public sector,” Wyden said in a written statement.

“I’m nowhere near convinced this fire sale of federal assets throughout Oregon is in the best interest of U.S. taxpayers who paid for these facilities or for all Oregonians who depend on them for a reliable power grid, a functional court system, constituent services and more.”

The GSA did not immediately respond to a request for additional information by the Rogue Valley Times.

Reach reporter Buffy Pollock at 458-488-2029 or bpollock@rv-times.com. Follow her on Twitter @orwritergal.