A federal board has recommended selling an eight-story waterfront office building at 408 Atlantic Ave., commonly known as the Coast Guard building, on the edge of Boston’s Financial District. The recommendation is part of a broader report released Thursday that outlines options to address the chronic underfunding of the federal government’s building portfolio.
The circa-1918 structure is one of 11 federal properties nationwide identified by the board as candidates for disposition. The Coast Guard building has previously appeared on federal surplus property lists, including during the Biden administration and in the early stages of the current administration, underscoring its recurring role in discussions about optimizing the government’s real estate footprint.
While the new report again singles out the Coast Guard building for potential sale, it notably omits other federal buildings in Boston that had been flagged as possible sale candidates in the early months of the Trump administration. According to reporting by the Boston Business Journal, those earlier potential targets are not included in the latest set of recommendations, suggesting a narrower immediate focus for federal asset dispositions in the city.
In addition to the Coast Guard building, the board plans further analysis on the potential sale of three large federal properties in Boston totaling about 2.6 million square feet. Those assets are the JFK building at Government Center, the O’Neill building and the John W. McCormack Building. The report indicates that these properties are under review rather than formally recommended for sale at this stage.
The board’s work is framed around finding ways to better align the federal real estate portfolio with current needs and available funding, with property sales being one of several tools under consideration. The evolving list of assets under review in Boston highlights how federal disposition strategies can shift from administration to administration, even as certain legacy buildings like the Coast Guard property continue to draw scrutiny as potential divestiture opportunities.
