LAKEWOOD, Colo. — The Trump administration has ordered the agency that manages federal office space to begin terminating leases on all of the roughly 7,500 federal offices across the country, as part of its strategy to cut the size of the federal government. What could it mean for the Denver Federal Center in Lakewood? At the moment, it’s not clear.
Spread out across 600 acres, the Denver Federal Center is home to more than two dozen federal agencies and more than 6,000 federal employees.
"The Denver Federal Center is an icon,” said Denise Maes. “It's an icon, and it's an economic center for Lakewood and the metro area."
Maes was the former regional administrator of the General Services Administration (GSA) under the Biden administration for two years.
“GSA is essentially the landlord for the federal government,” she said. “GSA owns and or operates all the federal buildings.”
As regional administrator, Maes managed federal buildings in 16 states, including Colorado.
“Colorado really is the largest concentration of federal offices, federal agencies outside of D.C.,” Maes said.
Maes left her position at GSA after President Trump took office last month.
The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a White House office headed by billionaire Elon Musk, has ordered the GSA to begin terminating leases on all 7,500 federal offices nationwide, as it looks to cut government spending and dramatically shrink the size of the federal government workforce.
A federal judge has temporarily blocked the White House’s buyout offer to voluntarily quit.
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On Thursday, administration officials told ABC News 60,000 federal workers had already accepted the offer.
“It seems to me what the Trump administration is doing is not very thoughtful at all,” said Maes. “It seems like basically a wrecking ball, a decision that federal government is too big, when in fact, the federal government workforce has not grown very much over the decades.”
Maes said the GSA already has a process in place to evaluate and sell federal office buildings it no longer needs on an annual basis.
“One of the things that GSA would do on an annual basis is evaluate the federal footprint and make thoughtful decisions based on how old the building was, how much operation and maintenance the building needed, or whether or not we needed to shrink the federal footprint as a result of more employees working remotely or just different reasons,” said Maes.
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, which Musk owns, DOGE said it had already saved taxpayers $44 million through lease terminations of underutilized buildings.
In the past 6 days, the number of lease terminations of underutilized buildings has increased from 3 to 22, with savings increased from $1.6M to $44.6M. https://t.co/b4EV4NYX96
— Department of Government Efficiency (@DOGE) February 3, 2025
It remains to be seen what impact DOGE’s actions will have on the Denver Federal Center.
Maes said selling it or closing it wouldn't be easy, since it's a former munitions facility and would have environmental issues that would need to be addressed.
"It's not as if one can just start creating apartments or housing or anything like that,” said Maes. "You would have this vacant, empty space that's just sitting there with no one there. That just seems ludicrous."
Maes said federal employees she has heard from are worried.
"They're stressed, they're miserable, they're sad," said Maes.
Wendi Strom, the mayor of Lakewood, said the city has not received any information that would indicate the Denver Federal Center is at risk of closing.
“With more than 6,000 employees, the Denver Federal Center is critically important to the local and regional economy,” said Strom. “Any desire for change should involve a prudent, planned process that includes the input of local residents and representatives before any decision is made, as has been done in the past with significant actions such as military base closures. We would hope that a high level of care and concern would be shown for local economies and for the American people before any decisions are made.”
Strom said the city would continue to monitor the situation closely.
“If any order is issued regarding the Federal Center, we have asked for it to be delivered to us for our review,” said Strom.
Colorado Congressman Brittany Pettersen represents the area where the Denver Federal Center is located.
“Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s repeated illegal attempts to put our federal workforce on the chopping block are an unacceptable attack on our Constitution and the public servants who go to work every day in our district to conduct groundbreaking research, manage millions of acres of public lands, work on critical wildfire mitigation efforts, and provide other critical services that Coloradans rely on and our tax dollars pay for,” said Pettersen. “The Federal Center is an integral part of our community, and I will fight for accountability and transparency if they bring the same misinformed, reckless, and ideological attacks we’ve seen elsewhere. Any federal employees in need of assistance including whistleblower support services should reach out to my Lakewood office at 303-274-7944.”
Messages Denver7 left with GSA offices in Colorado and Washington, D.C. seeking comment about the future of the Denver Federal Center were not returned on Friday.
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