In a press release dated March 4, the U.S. General Services Administration announced it planned to divest real estate it has identified as not being “core to government operations.”

The Mississippi River Commission Building in downtown Vicksburg is on the list.

“PBS has identified certain core Federally-owned assets within its portfolio that are needed for critical government operations, such as: courthouses, land ports of entry, and facilities critical to our national defense and law enforcement,” the release read. “These core assets are intrinsically significant to the mission of the federal government and will be retained for long-term needs.

“Federally-owned assets in GSA’s portfolio that are not core to government operations primarily consist of office space. GSA currently owns and maintains over 440 non-core assets comprising almost 80 million rentable square feet across the nation and representing over $8.3 billion in recapitalization needs. Decades of funding deficiencies have resulted in many of these buildings becoming functionally obsolete and unsuitable for use by our federal workforce. We can no longer hope that funding will emerge to resolve these longstanding issues. GSA’s decisive action to dispose of non-core assets leverages the private sector, drives improvements for our agency customers, and best serves local communities.

GSA will consider non-core assets for divestment from government ownership in an orderly fashion to ensure taxpayers no longer pay for empty and underutilized federal office space, or the significant maintenance costs associated with long-term building ownership — potentially saving more than $430 million in annual operating costs.

As part of our strategy to optimize the GSA portfolio, PBS will be engaging in market research and customer agency feedback regarding the potential disposition strategies for non-core assets, and will consider current use, occupancy, cost of agency relocation, and local market conditions when assessing disposition. PBS welcomes creative solutions, including sale-lease backs, ground leases and other forms of public/private partnerships to drive the full optimization of our space while delivering our federal employees the high quality work environments they need to fulfill their missions. GSA will continuously review and update the list of non-core assets. GSA will be releasing more information on how interested prospective parties can submit information soon.

PBS remains fully committed to meeting the mission needs of our customer agencies and seeks to improve the quality of space provided through consolidation into a smaller footprint. PBS is excited to undertake this overhaul of the portfolio and looks forward to delivering the federal workforce world class work environments as they return to office.”

According to HHB Engineers, P.C., who handled the HVAC replacement in the building in 2016, the Mississippi River Commission building is circa 1894 and is 59,000 square feet. It is a “four-story National Register (NR Rating – 3) listed Gothic / Romanesque Revival-style Post Office and Customs House. Of special interest is an eight-sided tower that surmounts the roof at the northeast corner and is topped with a conical roof. Construction of the building began in 1890 and was completed in 1894. William Freret designed the original building. The building was extended on the south side in 1914. Three of the building’s stories are above-grade, and there is a partially exposed basement level. The property is occupied by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (COE).”

The Magnolia Tribune reported that the Dr. AH McCoy Federal Building in Jackson was also on the list.

Editor’s Note: When the Post began work on this story on the evening of March 4, a list of properties for sale was provided by the GSA at this link. By 6:50 a.m. on March 5, the list had been removed from the GSA website. The page now says the list will be “coming soon.” It is unclear why the list of properties was taken down.