Table of Contents
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is officially moving forward with its plan to vacate 1320 Braddock Place in Alexandria, with food assistance program workers at the facility set to relocate to Washington, officials announced Wednesday.
The announcement comes as city property records show the roughly 150,800-square-foot office building quietly changed ownership just two weeks ago. On Feb. 11, the property transferred from WRIT Braddock Office LLC — tied to Elme Communities, formerly known as Washington Real Estate Investment Trust — to a Chicago-based entity called 1320-1340 Braddock Place Holdings LLC. The transfer was recorded at $0, which typically indicates an internal restructuring rather than an open-market sale.
The building, constructed in 1986, is assessed at approximately $8.5 million, according to city records.
Deputy Secretary Stephen Vaden said employees in the Food and Nutrition Service, which administers the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations from the Alexandria office, will move to D.C. rather than to one of the department's five new regional hubs.
The announcement follows through on a reorganization plan USDA first outlined last July, when the department said it would return the Braddock Place facility to the General Services Administration as part of a sweeping effort to reduce its National Capital Region footprint.
The broader reorganization is expected to ramp up over the summer, allowing employees with school-aged children to finish the academic year before completing their moves, Vaden said. He said the reorganization would be complete by the end of 2026, though the steps will require compliance with laws, regulations and union contracts.
Secretary Brooke L. Rollins announced the moves at a press conference in front of USDA's South Building in Washington, which will also be transferred to GSA. More than 70 percent of offices in the South Building sit empty on any given day, with deferred maintenance costs that have exceeded $1 billion, she said.
"Behind me, along this entire city block in bricks and mortar, is what government that has grown too big, too bloated and too disconnected from its citizens looks like," Rollins said.
USDA's plan calls for reducing its capital-region workforce from roughly 4,600 to around 2,000 while expanding regional hubs in Raleigh, North Carolina; Kansas City, Missouri; Indianapolis; Fort Collins, Colorado; and Salt Lake City.
GSA Administrator Edward C. Forst called the process "a very preliminary stage" and declined to commit to a timeline for the South Building transfer. He said GSA would consult with stakeholders, including the private sector, to determine a future use for the property.
It remains unclear how many USDA employees work at the Braddock Place facility. The department did not respond to a request for that information last July.
The ownership change and pending federal departure could reshape the commercial landscape along the Braddock Road Metro corridor, where the federal presence has been a longstanding anchor. It is unclear whether the new ownership entity has plans to reposition the property or seek new tenants.
The Alexandria Brief has reached out to both 1320-1340 Braddock Place Holdings LLC and Elme Communities for comment.
