Summary
- Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced Union Station takeover.
- Department to manage Washington’s central train and bus hub.
- Move part of Trump administration's crackdown on nation's capital.
- Aims to improve safety, cleanliness, and attract more tenants.
When and how Mr. Duffy would implement his proposed redevelopment initiative were unclear at first, as was whether it would make use of some of the controversial strategies the Trump administration has used, such as evicting homeless people from federally held property in other areas of the city.
“We think that we can manage the property better, bring in more tenants, bring more revenue,”
Mr. Duffy said, framing the move as part of President Trump’s efforts to tackle crime, remove homeless encampments and invest in beautification projects across the city.
“We think we can make this the premiere train station not just in America but the premiere train station in the world,”
he added.
However, Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser stated that a greater federal engagement in Union Station might be "a very significant and good investment for the region," especially if it were complete.
“If it’s about what Union Station needs for its total transformation, that would be an amazing initiative for the federal government to take on,”
she told reporters, noting she had discussed Union Station’s needs with the president after his most recent election, before he returned to the White House.
Union Station has been controlled by the Transportation Department since the early 1980s, but the local nonprofit Union Station Redevelopment Corporation now manages day-to-day operations and the planned enhancements.
In order to better raise the funds required to renovate the station, the department said in a statement that it would renegotiate a cooperative agreement with the nonprofit and Amtrak, the national passenger rail service.
Under a sublease, Amtrak assumed management and operations of the station from the charity last year. The president chooses Amtrak's board of directors, and the US government owns the majority of the company.
Union Station features a small three-story mall next to the transit facilities, as well as a charming center hall designed in the Beaux-Arts style. However, many of its stores were shuttered during and after the Covid outbreak. The department also stated that the station's roof, lighting, security, and elevators needed to be improved.
“We are going to make the investments to make sure this station isn’t dirty, to make sure we don’t have homelessness in Union Station,”
Mr. Duffy said, adding,
“We want a place where businesses want to obtain leases and set up shop and serve the community of D.C. but also people who travel into D.C. via train.”
Formalization of the amendments is anticipated in September. The estimated $8.8 billion, 13-year Union Station reconstruction plan was finalized last year, although it is uncertain if they may have a significant impact.
Formalization of the amendments is anticipated in September. The estimated $8.8 billion, 13-year Union Station reconstruction plan was finalized last year, although it is uncertain if they may have a significant impact
In an executive order earlier this week, Mr. Trump officially called on the Transportation Department to support his crackdown on the city. He directed Mr. Duffy to look into whether the city was adequately protecting the safety of transit workers and directed the department to "take appropriate remedial action that is within the Department of Transportation’s authority" to address any shortcomings.
National Guard forces have been seen in Union Station and many metro stations in the downtown area since Mr. Trump intensified his crackdown on the capital.
What legal steps allowed DOT to reclaim management from the nonprofit?
The DOT has owned the Union Station structure since the early 1980s, and as such has the legal capacity to exercise power over the property.
The USRC, a non-profit, managed Union Station based on an agreement with DOT, but did so without ownership stakes.
In April 2017, DOT, under Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, used its property ownership rights to terminate or renegotiate the management agreement with USRC to regain control of the station.
Because the building is federally-owned and DOT owned the property, DOT does not exercise power to take over operational control of Union Station based on ownership; it would be based on DOT's legal contractual and administrative rights to transfer back to DOT.