Feds Put Abandoned School Building Across From CityCenter Up For Auction

A historic school building that has been vacant since the 1980s is up for grabs, paving the way for new life on a prime downtown D.C. block. 

The federal government launched an online auction last week for the Webster School building at 940 H St. NW, directly across from the CityCenterDC mixed-use development. The government has owned the property for more than two decades but has left it empty and boarded up.

The General Services Administration opened online bidding on the 27,500 SF property last week via its real estate auction platform. Bidders are required to post a $500K deposit, and the minimum bid is $1M. The GSA hasn't yet determined an end date for the auction.

“The corner location and small size makes the Webster School ideal for all types of redevelopment including boutique hotel or residential, embassy or consulate use or traditional office space,” the listing says.

DowntownDC Business Improvement District CEO Gerren Price told Bisnow Monday that the property would be a “great spot” for retail use, given its proximity to CityCenter and other downtown destinations. 

“Any movement with respect to a building that has sat empty and vacant becoming activated and being used in a positive way fits into our broader goal of supporting downtown's comeback and revitalization,” he said. “We strongly support and are excited to see what happens with this upcoming auction and hope that that building is transitioned to a dynamic and more vibrant use that's going to bring some good to the community.”

The school was one of nearly two dozen buildings totaling 3.5M SF the federal government announced it planned to dispose of last November. But it wasn't known in what manner the government would dispose of the school.

The GSA can auction off properties to the public if state and local governments or other eligible nonprofits don't wish to acquire the property, according to federal law.

Constructed in 1882, the Webster School sits on a fifth of an acre across from Hines' 2.5M SF CityCenter. The Webster site was purchased by the federal government in 2002 as a “security buffer” for the adjacent Secret Service headquarters, according to the auction materials.

The government acquired the building through eminent domain at the request of the Secret Service, which opposed the previous owner’s redevelopment plans. It paid the prior owner, the National Treasury Employees Union, $1.8M for the property, according to deed records. 

Boarded up and deteriorating ever since, the building has been eyed by the GSA for disposition since at least 2015. Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton has been advocating for the government to sell the property for more than a decade and introduced a bill in July 2023 to compel the GSA to sell it. The bill passed the House in December, the month after it was officially announced as one of the properties slated for disposition.

The three-story property is a local landmark in the D.C. Inventory of Historic Sites. The offering's executive summary says historic tax credits can be used to renovate the property.

No bids had been placed as of 2 p.m. ET Monday, according to the listing page. The listing advertises a dozen open house dates, which run through Nov. 1.

Efforts to dispose of underused federal real estate have been in the works for more than a decade but have ramped up in recent years. Over the past five years, the agency has disposed of more than 500 properties, totaling more than 12M SF and $1B in proceeds, Federal News Network reported in March.

In April, the GSA announced it would dispose of the World War I-era Liberty Loan Building, a 141K SF property overlooking the Tidal Basin that has “outlived its useful life.”