These SC federal courthouses, buildings ‘targeted for disposal,’ Trump administration says
The Trump administration wants to sell several South Carolina federal courthouses and properties including three in downtown Columbia, according to a list of 320 “non-core” federal properties nationwide targeted for disposal by the General Services Administration.
The list includes downtown Columbia’s 16-story iconic Strom Thurmond federal building and a smaller three-story unused building next to it that was once Columbia’s main federal courthouse. Both of these are on Assembly Street, two blocks from the current modern Matthew Perry Jr. courthouse.
The Strom Thurmond federal building was built in 1979 and was named for the late longtime South Carolina Sen. Strom Thurmond. It is on the National Register of Historic Places. It is now the site of various federal branch offices including Social Security, the Small Business Administration and the Drug Enforcement Administration.
Other federal agencies with offices in the Strom Thurmond federal building are: U.S. Department of Agriculture, rural development; the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration; the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development; the U.S. Department of Homeland Security; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the Mine Safety and Health Administration; and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Another Columbia federal property the Trump Administration wants to sell is an unidentified parking facility near Columbia’s Perry federal courthouse.
“The list below includes properties designated for disposal,” says a notice from the federal General Services Administration concerning the 320 federal properties to be gotten rid of. The General Services Administration is a federal agency that manages government property.
“We are identifying buildings and facilities that are not core to government operations, or non-core properties for disposal,” the notice said.
“Selling ensures that taxpayer dollars are no longer spent on vacant or underutilized federal spaces. Disposing of these assets helps eliminate costly maintenance and allows us to reinvest in high-quality work environments that support agency missions.”
The federal courthouses in Anderson, with 28,567 square feet, and Spartanburg, with 49,859 square feet, are also to be sold, the list says.
In any event, both of those courthouses were likely to be closed anyway at some unspecified date in the future, and their operations will be moved into a new, larger federal courthouse in Greenville.
Currently, the Anderson federal courthouse is the home base of U.S. District Judge Timothy Cain; the Spartanburg federal courthouse is where U.S. District Judge Donald Coggins holds court. If their courthouses are sold by the Trump administration, both Cain and Coggins would likely move to the Greenville federal courthouse.
This story was originally published March 5, 2025 at 8:40 AM.