A warehouse purchased earlier this year by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) could be back on market soon.
A new report published Thursday by the New York Times says officials from ICE are planning to sell some of the 11 facilities around the country that it purchased and initially planned to convert into detention facilities for undocumented immigrants. The report also said the buildings could be given to other federal agencies for use.
The reporter behind the story, Hamed Aleaziz, later posted on social media saying the Salt Lake City warehouse was one of the facilities ICE was looking to offload.
We previously reported that ICE purchased a 833,000 square foot warehouse at 6020 W. 300 South. The warehouse, located in Poplar Grove and the Northwest Quadrant area, was among the most costly facilities purchased by ICE, with the agency paying a little over $174 per square foot of space.
When reached for comment, a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security didn’t acknowledge the agency’s plans for the massive building. Instead, the DHS spokesperson shared a statement with Building Salt Lake that it already gave to the New York Times.
“From day one, DHS has remained singularly focused on removing the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens from the United States and is always evaluating the best methods to do so,” the statement said. “These heinous criminals, once arrested, should be removed at lightning speed, not housed on American soil at the taxpayer’s expense. DHS is moving swiftly to utilize EXISTING detention space with our state and county partners.”
The NYT report comes months after ICE decided to purchase the Salt Lake City facility for $145.44 million. Analysis from BSL found the building was much more costly per square foot compared to other ICE purchases around that time. A Salt Lake City industrial real estate broker told BSL the sales price was “unheard of,” in the local market.
Months before the ICE purchase, a 1 million square foot warehouse in West Jordan was sold for $120.5 million, or $118 per square foot during Q4 2025, according to a report from Cushman & Wakefield. Warehouses in West Jordan typically see lease rates higher than those in the Northwest Quadrant of Salt Lake City, where the ICE building is located. ICE bought its Salt Lake City warehouse for around $174 per square foot.
Since the purchase, city and county leaders decried the federal government’s efforts to build the detention facility. Earlier this month, Salt Lake City and Salt Lake County sued DHS and ICE over the project, alleging the project did not go through the necessary environmental reviews or proper channels prior to the purchase. The lawsuit also says the facility would cripple the local infrastructure and cause issues to the local sewer system, impact surrounding roads and use a large amount of water every day. If built, the facility would hold thousands of people.
When reached Thursday, a spokesperson for Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall said the office didn’t have information from DHS regarding a potential sale. A spokesperson for Salt Lake County Mayor Jenny Wilson also said their office had not heard of the Salt Lake City warehouse potentially being for sale.
The Salt Lake City facility was one of numerous warehouses around the country purchased under the supervision of then-Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who has since been replaced with Markwayne Mullin.
Noem’s DHS had around $38.3 billion to spend on warehouses across the country, done in the hopes of increasing ICE’s bed capacity to upwards of 92,000. After getting into the job, Mullin ordered a pause on buying new warehouses and to review past purchases, according to the Associated Press. Thursday’s news of warehouses potentially going back on the market is the latest development.
0 Comments