‘Historic’ Michigan buildings targeted for sale by Trump administration

• Battle Creek federal center, historic courthouse in Port Huron among buildings federal government may sell
• Federal buildings in four Michigan cities included on list of 440 “non-core assets” that could be sold to save $430 million annually
• Local officials say they’d fight to keep historic buildings in operation, are already exploring alternatives

President Donald Trump’s administration is considering offloading Michigan’s oldest federal building in Port Huron and a historic Battle Creek complex with nearly 2,000 workers as part of ongoing efforts to cut government spending. 

Both were identified for potential sale Tuesday by the US General Services Administration as part of a plan to divest from 440 “non-core assets” to save an estimated $430 million in annual operating costs. 

The GSA subsequently deleted its initial list of properties it could sell — which also included facilities in Detroit and Saginaw — and has not explained why.

Local officials and economic development experts told Bridge Michigan Wednesday that a loss of federal presence in Battle Creek, in particular, would deal a major blow to the region and state.

The Hart-Doyle-Inouye Federal Center complex is home to between 1,500 and 2,000 workers with high-wage jobs in the defense industry, with an annual payroll of $120 million to $150 million. It has more than 100 years of history in Battle Creek and is on the National Register of Historic Places.

“It sometimes keeps me up at night, because it's such a large and historic building,” Battle Creek Mayor Mark Behnke said. “There's some opportunities that we will look at and try to do our best to rectify the situation, to save a historic structure in our community.”

‘Longstanding issues’

In announcing potential sales on Tuesday night, the GSA said it would work to dispose of the properties in “orderly fashion to ensure taxpayers no longer pay for empty and underutilized federal office space, or the significant maintenance costs” associated with long-term ownership.  

“Decades of funding deficiencies have resulted in many of these buildings becoming functionally obsolete and unsuitable for use by our federal workforce,” the agency’s statement read. “We can no longer hope that funding will emerge to resolve these longstanding issues.”

Related:

• Michigan automakers get break on Trump tariffs — for now
• Dozens fired from Michigan veteran care facilities as Trump cuts continue
• Facing deadline to end DEI, Michigan schools ask crucial question: What is DEI?

Several well-known Michigan federal buildings made the initial list of potential sales, including: 

• The Battle Creek complex, which encompasses 21 buildings on 24 acres
• The Rosa Parks Federal Building and nearby parking facilities in Detroit, which houses offices for the US General Services Administration, the Internal Revenue Service and US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, among others
• A Social Security Administration building in Saginaw
• Port Huron’s Federal Building and US Courthouse

If the federal government pursues disposal of its properties in earnest, there are a number of routes officials could take, including transferring surplus property to local governments or outside agencies for public benefit, negotiating a sale to state or local governments or a public sale.

It’s not yet clear how any of those options would impact employees currently working in affected buildings. 

The potential closures would be the latest in a series of cost-cutting moves by the Trump administration. 

The new Department of Government Efficiency, led by billionaire business owner Elon Musk, has also announced termination of several federal leases in Michigan, including agency offices in Detroit, Grand Rapids, northern Michigan and the Lansing area. DOGE claims ending those leases will save the federal government just over $588,000. 

Deep roots in Battle Creek

In Battle Creek, federal officials have considered dropping the sprawling federal complex before due to the level of investment needed to modernize the facility, said Joe Sobieralski, president and CEO of the local economic development group Battle Creek Unlimited.

The 122-year-old main building in the facility requires considerable upkeep and maintenance costs, however, meaning this week’s announcement didn’t come as a major surprise, he said. 

But there are other factors that keep Battle Creek competitive for government work, Sobieralski argued, noting the region’s low wage scale when compared to Washington or other cities with large concentrations of federal workers. 

“If we were to lose these jobs and these were consolidated to a different market, it could end up costing the federal government more,” he said. For the local economy, disinvestment “would be a huge detriment to the area, the region and the state.” 

Prior to its use by a host of federal government agencies — most recently the Defense Logistics Agency and the Department of Homeland Security — the site was home to the Battle Creek Sanitarium and the Percy Jones Army Hospital, where the three former US senators the facility was named after in 2003 received medical treatment during World War II.  

In its sanitarium days, the facility was directed by famed physician John Harvey Kellogg and frequented by notable celebrities like Amelia Earhart and former President William Howard Taft.

If the federal facility closed and federal defense jobs moved elsewhere, there aren’t many other options for existing employees who want to stay in Michigan, said Jim Robertson, a now-retired federal employee who worked at the Battle Creek facility for decades. 

“Where they would go, I have no idea,” said Robertson, of Richland. 

He added that the repercussions of disinvestment or closure would likely extend well beyond the facility itself. 

“All the side businesses, the restaurants, the dry cleaners, anything else in the area…all these places are going to suffer if these people lose their jobs and can’t support the community,” he said. 

Regardless of what the government decides, Behnke, Battle Creek’s mayor, said keeping the facility in use is a top priority. 

“It is not our intent to abandon it,” he said. “The sky isn't falling, but at the same time, we need to be prepared.” 

‘An incredibly iconic building’

In Port Huron, the Federal Building and US Courthouse that appeared on the potential sale list is “probably one of the most iconic buildings of the entire city,” City Manager James Freed said. 

The building, which was included on the federal government’s initial list of potential closures, was built in 1877 and was originally designed to house the US Post Office, Customs and Courts. 

Thanks in large part to former Judge Lawrence P. Zatkoff, the building has undergone several major renovations over the last few decades, including a $2.4 million effort to modernize security, upgrade heating and cooling systems and restore the lobby to its original Victorian-era style. 

Freed, who said he learned of the building’s inclusion on the “non-core assets” list when contacted by a Bridge reporter, already has some ideas for other uses if the federal government drops the property. 

“It's an incredibly iconic building that's very important downtown, and we have a very, very vested interest in seeing that protected,” Freed said. 

“We’re currently looking for a good city hall, and it would make a great city hall.”