This story by Jason Starr was first published in the Williston Observer on June 19.
The brick office building at 188 Harvest Lane that houses the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency was sold in May by Burlington’s Pizzagalli Properties to a Washington D.C. company that specializes in leasing property to government agencies.
The sale of the 75,000-square-foot building closed for $20 million, according to Williston Town Clerk property records.
Though the building has changed hands, its use as ICE’s “Law Enforcement Support Center” — staffed 24-7 to help law enforcement agencies around the country prosecute immigration cases — won’t change. The buyer, Easterly Government Properties, Inc., said in a news release that the building comes with a “non-cancelable” lease with the U.S. General Services Administration that runs through 2031.
“With this asset, we continue to increase our cash flows derived from federal agency tenants like the DHS and facilitate operations which remain mission-critical to the safety and security of the United States,” Easterly President and Chief Executive Officer Darrell Crate said in the release.
Easterly owns about 100 properties throughout the country that are leased to the federal government, the release states.
The ICE website describes the Williston building as a single point of contact for law enforcement agencies around the world, “providing real-time assistance … regarding aliens suspected, arrested or convicted of criminal activity.”
A detailed description of its operations on the site outlines the center’s role in helping law enforcement personnel verify immigration status and “remove aliens from the U.S. who pose a threat to public safety and national security.” Staff also conduct proactive investigations to inform ICE field officers’ work around the country.
The building has been the epicenter of citizen protests against immigration policies under President Donald Trump, both in his first and current terms. Most recently, hundreds of protesters marched along Harvest Lane and gathered in front of the building on May 1.
“I’m here because I believe in social justice and human rights,” Shelburne’s Joanna Cole told VTDigger during a May 1 interview in front of the building. “I do not want any immigrants forced out, especially illegally. I think it’s horrible so many people are being kidnapped off the street and being thrown in jail.”
Pizzagalli Development Manager Bob Bouchard said the protests had no impact on the company’s decision to sell.
“We are selling a few of our properties right now,” Bouchard said.
Pizzagalli built the building in 1999 after winning a U.S. government bid to provide office space to what was then the Immigration and Naturalization Service. It was a deal facilitated by longtime Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy in an effort to bring federal jobs to the area.
“It’s been a great property with a great tenant,” Bouchard said. “We have nothing but positive things to say about the lessee, which is the government, or the occupant, which is ICE.”
He said the company recently completed upgrades to the building with the intention to sell.
“As soon as we were done with the renovations, the property went on the market,” Bouchard said, calling Easterly a “first-class organization.”
