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The leadership of the Federal Bureau of Investigation has announced a historic decision: the agency will shutter for good its sprawling main building and relocate personnel to other office spaces.

Relocation Plans for the Top Investigative Agency

According to a latest announcement, the aging J. Edgar Hoover Building, a landmark in downtown DC, will be decommissioned. The staff will be stationed in already built offices elsewhere.

This strategic change will see a number of agents and staff taking over space within the Reagan Building, which previously housed another government department.

“After more than 20 years of failed attempts, we finalized a plan to completely vacate the FBI’s Hoover headquarters and move the workforce into a safe, modern facility,” the announcement said.

Modernization and Homeland Defense Priorities

The move is described as a way to more wisely spend taxpayer money. Officials stated that this plan puts resources where they belong: on combating threats, crushing violent crime, and protecting national security.

It is also touted as providing the modern FBI with superior resources for much less money compared to maintaining the older structure.

Legal Controversies and the Building's History

This decision comes after previous political challenges concerning the agency's future home. Earlier, state leaders had sued over the termination of an earlier proposal to move the headquarters to their jurisdiction, arguing that money had already been approved by lawmakers for that relocation.

The J. Edgar Hoover Building itself is a distinctive example of concrete-heavy architecture, planned and erected in the 1960s. Its appearance has long been a point of debate, as it stood in stark contrast to the architectural style of other government structures in the city.

Its own former director, J. Edgar Hoover, was famously dismissive of the building, once deriding it as “a terrible eyesore ever built in the history of Washington.”