Trump might use the cost as an excuse to fire Powell. But I'm only focusing on the building itself.
The Fed says its main headquarters, known as the Marriner S. Eccles building, was in dire need of an upgrade because its electrical, plumbing and HVAC systems, among others, are nearly obsolete and some date back to the building’s construction in the 1930s.
The renovation will also remove asbestos, lead and other hazardous elements and update the building with modern electrical and communications systems. The H-shaped building, named after a former Fed chair in the 1930s and ’40s, is located near some of Washington’s highest-profile monuments and has references to classical architecture and marble in the facades and stonework. The central bank is also renovating a building next door that it acquired in 2018.
The Fed says there has been periodic maintenance to the structures but adds this is the first “comprehensive renovation.” Trump administration officials have criticized the Fed over the project’s expense, which has reached $2.5 billion, about $600 million more than was originally budgeted.
Like a beleaguered homeowner facing spiraling costs for a remodeling project, the Fed cites many reasons for the greater expense. Construction costs, including for materials and labor, rose sharply during the inflation spike in 2021 and 2022. More asbestos needed to be removed than expected. Washington’s local restrictions on building heights forced it to build underground, which is pricier.
In 2024, the Fed’s board canceled its planned renovations of a third building because of rising costs. The Fed says the renovations will reduce costs “over time” because it will be able to consolidate its roughly 3,000 Washington-based employees into fewer buildings and will no longer need to rent as much extra space as it does now.
There should be far more context. $2.5B seems like an incredibly high number to me but I don't know a thing a construction or construction costs. The article didn't inform me and I got very tired of googling.
i was going to also say 2.5 Billion seems like a lot, with 0.6 billion of that from unexpected cost overruns. seems like a lot. i can appreciate that building underground is "wildly expensive" and asbestos abatement is "bananatown" on a budget, but I really don't get 2.5 billion for renovating an office building. like are they making a giant vault in the basement for precious metals, entirely out of precious metals, and then also buying the precious metals to store in it?
austerity is stupid and i'm generally supportive of "it costs what it costs" for public infrastructure, but what the hell is this?
how many people work there and what kind of gear do they need to do the things? this seems like some kind of spare-no-expense Continuity of Government boondoggle where, if the entire US political leadership is decapitated in a nuclear strike without warning, there will still be a committee of weirdos in an invincible bunker calling in loans.
Also - ya gotta control interest rates. You don't want labor grabbing power.