DOGE Axes 125K SF of Federal Offices in DTLA, Sawtelle

The federal government is backing out of half a million square feet of leases in California in the name of efficiency, according to a “wall of receipts” posted on DOGE’s website Monday.

Los Angeles landlords Oaktree Capital Management, Jamison, Onni Group, Jade Enterprises and Philip Ho are among those impacted.

The feds are dropping eight leases totaling 125,205 square feet spanning office buildings in Downtown L.A. and Sawtelle, and entire two single-family homes at 12267 San Vicente Boulevard and 1453 South Fairfax Avenue. One of the houses has a pool and spa.

The purported benefit to taxpayers for what DOGE calls “cancelled leases,” in L.A is $5.3 million in annual rent payments. But two of the eight leases already expired earlier this year, and the others will reach the end of their terms in one to four years.

A DOGE spokesperson did not immediately provide an explanation for the discrepancies.

The General Services Administration, which manages the federal government’s real estate portfolio, will relocate workers to “suitable alternative space” in some cases, a GSA spokesperson said in an email, declining to specify which ones.

“GSA is reviewing all options to optimize our footprint and building utilization,” the spokesperson emailed. “A component of our space consolidation plan will be the termination of many soft-term leases,” meaning ones that allow a tenant to terminate the lease before the end of the term.

Some federal leases begin a soft term after the government chooses to voluntarily renew, usually after a five-year initial term, according to the Federal News Network.

Securities and Exchange Commission staff at 444 South Flower Street are among those hit with whiplash from the reshuffling.

The SEC’s L.A. regional office — which enforces the law in investment markets in Southern California, Arizona, Guam, Hawaii and Nevada — was added to the chopping block along with two other SEC offices in Chicago and Philadelphia, as Reuters first reported. That means staff may need to work from home again despite President Donald Trump’s order for federal workers to return to full-time in-person work.

The lease termination puts 57,903 square feet back on the market four years ahead of schedule at Oaktree’s 444 South Flower Street. The SEC signed a 15-year lease at the property in 2014 and became eligible to terminate it last year, according to federal real estate data. Rent is $3.55 per square foot for the space.

Brookfield controls a majority stake of the Los Angeles-based Oaktree, which bought the 48-story tower in a foreclosure auction in 2023 and scored a three-year extension on a $258.8 million loan from AIG the same year. A spokesperson for the landlord declined to comment.

Jamison will also part ways with the feds at Downtown L.A.’s World Trade Center. The 13-story office tower at 350 South Figueroa Street is being converted to 570 residential units, according to a planning application Jamison first submitted in 2018. A spokesperson for the landlord declined to comment.

The U.S. Government Accountability Office will decamp from 16,439 square feet at the property, according to DOGE. Its lease there expired last month.

The terminations also include 20,885 square feet for the National Labor Relations Board’s regional office at 11500 West Olympic Boulevard in Sawtelle. Landlord OPIG, a shell company headed by Philip Ho, could not be reached for comment.

And three other office buildings Downtown are losing federal tenants, including 13,541 square feet for the Environmental Protection Agency at Onni Group’s 600 Wilshire Boulevard; 7,100 square feet for the Federal Highway Administration at Jade Enterprise’s 888 South Figueroa Street; and 1,527 square feet for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s marketing service at 1320 East Olympic Boulevard, which is owned by a limited liability company tied to Douglas Weitman. Spokespeople for Onni and Jade did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Weitman could not be reached for comment.