ICE looks to sell two Pennsylvania warehouses and others initially planned for detention center

The federal government is seeking to sell two warehouses in Pennsylvania that were purchased for use as Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention centers, along with five other warehouses nationally that were similarly intended for use as detention facilities before those plans were scrapped over the summer.

The intent to sell was first reported by Project Salt Box, a public records-based investigative newsletter reporting on ICE and Department of Homeland Security contracts. Cushman & Wakefield, a commercial real estate firm headquartered in Chicago, is marketing the properties, offering the seven buildings individually or as a package.

Along with the facilities in Tremont Township in Schuylkill County and Upper Bern Township in Berks County, the facilities up for sale are in Romulu, Michigan; Social Circle and Flowery Branch, Georgia; Socorro, Texas; and Salt Lake City, Utah.

The warehouse in Tremont was sold to the federal government for $119.5 million dollars. The asking price for the warehouse now, either individually or alongside the other warehouses, is not publicly available.

DHS scrapped its plans for the detention facility in June, saying the detention centers in Pennsylvania would be “offloaded” — sold or given away. The specific fate of the warehouse, however, was unclear at the time.

The Cushman & Wakefield listing, through a website called the Federal Warehouse Portfolio, describes the properties as “an institutional-quality collection of seven industrial properties totaling more than 5.3 million square feet.”

“The Portfolio is currently vacant. Given the tenant demand for modern, high-quality bulk distribution buildings, the Portfolio offers investors the rare opportunity to capture substantial value creation through the lease-up and stabilization of the properties,” the website continues, noting that the warehouses are being sold free and clear of existing financing, which means that the buyer will have full ownership of a property with no mortgages, debt or liens attached.

The purchase of the two facilities in Pennsylvania garnered major pushback from community members in both Schuylkill and Berks counties, as well as some elected officials, earlier this year.

The Pennsylvania Capital-Star’s Tim Lambert contributed to this story.