President Donald Trump’s administration is considering selling two high-profile federal buildings in San Francisco, including the recently renamed Nancy Pelosi Federal Building, according to local reports. The Nancy Pelosi Federal Building, a two-decade-old, 18-story tower previously known as the San Francisco Federal Building until its dedication to the former House speaker in December, is located at Mission and 7th streets—an area long plagued by open-air drug dealing, illegal street markets, and rising crime.
In addition to Pelosi’s namesake building, the Trump administration is reportedly exploring the sale of the historic 1930s-era federal building at 50 United Nations Plaza, which currently houses the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) regional headquarters. The potential sales were first reported by KGO-TV and The San Francisco Chronicle, which cited a GSA document identifying both properties as “non-core” assets that could be sold, Fox News reported.
In 2023, hundreds of federal employees at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) who were assigned to the building were instructed to work from home due to escalating safety concerns, The San Francisco Chronicle reported. At the time, Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) called for the building’s closure, citing the rampant drug dealing occurring just outside its doors.
“It’s another example of how he is coming after Democrats. He’s coming after California, and it’s all about payback,” former Democratic Rep. Jackie Speier complained to KGO, referring to Trump. “The lease will keep going up and you will end up paying the property taxes of the lessor, whereas you don’t pay federal taxes when you are a federal government.”
In a 2020 executive order, Trump criticized the 7th Street federal building—an energy-efficient “green” structure that opened in 2007 at a cost of $144 million—stating that many San Franciscans consider it “one of the ugliest structures in their city.” Andy Ball, a developer who worked as a concrete subcontractor on the project two decades ago, echoed Trump’s sentiments, telling The San Francisco Chronicle that the building was “a waste of taxpayer money from day one.”
“No investor would have built this building,” Ball told Fox News, estimating the costs were about “50% greater” than if the project had been funded by the private sector. “In this market, it will represent the greatest difference between cost to build and its sale value.”
The potential sale of these buildings aligns with the Trump administration’s broader efforts to downsize federal bureaucracy through Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Although the lease remains active for the 800,000-square-foot former Twitter headquarters in San Francisco, Musk relocated his rebranded company, X Corp., to Texas last year.
Meanwhile, security around the Nancy Pelosi Federal Building has intensified. Since its official renaming in December, the Federal Protective Service has ramped up security in the area, as Pelosi has represented San Francisco in Congress for more than 37 years. However, local residents told KGO-TV that the added protection has merely shifted problems elsewhere, with federal employees benefiting from armed security while everyday citizens are left without similar safeguards, Fox noted.
