DOGE claims savings on terminating 2 federal government leases in Mobile

MOBILE, Ala. (WALA) - The Department of Government Efficiency claims it is saving more than $3.8 million by canceling a pair of leases for government agencies downtown.

They are among dozens of listings on the DOGE website, but it does not provide many details – just the city, the name of the agency and the amount of money saved.

But by cross-referencing the annual lease amounts with a database by the U.S. General Services Administration, which manages real estate for the federal government, FOX10 News matched them to two buildings.

One is the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers annex building on St. Michael Street. The other is the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission office at the Renaissance Riverview Plaza Hotel.

The EEOC moved into the hotel building in 2006. According to the GSA, the government pays $112,596 a year for the office and that lease is through 2027. DOGE claims total savings from canceling it is $243,958.

The EEOC refused to answer questions Wednesday.

The Corps of Engineers annex costs $722,044 a year and expires in 2027. DOGE assumes a five-year continuation of the lease to arrive at a total savings of more than $3.61 million in savings from canceling it.

Dustin Gautney, a spokesman for the Corps’ Mobile District, told FOX10 News that as far as he knows, the lease has not been canceled. But he said the workers in the building are relocating this summer to a new reginal headquarters under construction on the former Civic Center site. As to what will happen to the former Corps building, he said that is a question for the GSA which did not immediately return a call.

The 201 St. Michael Street address is up for sale. According to a listing on the commercial real estate site Crexi, the asking price is $4.675 million.

The Corps of Engineers has occupied part of the building since 2011 and at one time shared space with other federal agencies. But it is the only current tenant in the building, which is 40 percent vacant. It houses the agency’s Readiness Support Center, which provides emergency management planning, training and exercise development.