The Libertarian National Committee has sold the Libertarian Party’s national headquarters at 1444 Duke Street in Alexandria, Virginia, for roughly $650,000 gross, according to remarks by LNC members. The organization first authorized the sale of the building at its March 2 meeting.
Public acknowledgement that the sale had closed came Sunday, August 25. during a meeting of the LNC’s Executive Committee, during which it was mentioned that the building had been sold. According to Third Party Watch, it was mentioned during a discussion on encumbering $10,000 toward ballot access efforts in Arkansas, with LNC Treasurer Bill Redpath noting that building sale proceeds had improved the organization’s finances.
A follow-up post shared Tuesday by Region 3 South Representative Keith Thompson on social media confirmed that the sale price was “about 650k gross.” In response to a question about why the figure was lower than an $850,000 valuation cited in 2021, Thompson attributed the difference to damage the building had sustained over recent years.
The townhouse has served as the party’s headquarters since mid-2014, when the LNC purchased it for $825,000 after moving from a rented office in the Watergate complex in Washington, D.C. The property had been under consideration for sale since early 2025, with the LNC voting to rescind the Building Fund and authorize its sale at its March 2 meeting. At the meeting, members also expressed interest in seeking a Federal Election Commission advisory opinion clarifying how the funds could be used under campaign finance rules.
Former Chair Angela McArdle also previously floated the idea of renting and potentially selling the headquarters in 2024 as a way to generate revenue for fundraising, membership card production, and other projects, though she described an outright sale at the time as “logically challenging.” Before her, in 2022, former LNC Operations Director Robert Kraus urged the national committee in a letter to explore selling the building, suggesting the property could go between $850,000 and $895,000.
Dang – in retrospect, it would have been much better to have closed down the building and moved without a forwarding address so that Bob Barr wouldn’t ever have had a way to contact the LP. Nothing good came from his interlude with the party.
In the early 2000’s I was on a business trip to the DC area and had some free time so I visited the LP’s headquarters in the Watergate building. It was reassuring to see the staff there working and they were friendly and welcoming. I told them I had some free time and asked if there was anything I could do to help. They gave me a stack of unopened envelopes of which most were from people who had mailed contributions. I sorted those and felt happy to be of use. I also saw contributions from some people who I had thought were no longer involved in the party so that was insightful. While I was there I was surprised when Bob Barr, the Congressman from Georgia, entered the headquarters and shook the hand of the Executive Director and they were both smiling broadly. I realized something interesting was happening. So having a physical headquarters does provide some value to party members and gives an emotional feeling that the party has a home.
The Libertarian Party has been renting a storage lockers in Colorado for years because the office in Alexandria, VA was not big enough to store all of the party’s stuff.
The Libertarian Party will be paying zero rent for its staff because all of the staff works remote from their homes.
Why does the party need a physical building? Did they actually hold meetings there? Did people actually walk in off the street?
It’s a different world now. Virtual is so much more efficient. Rent a PO Box if you are still so insistent on using inefficient methods.
An appalling slap in the face to the memory of David Nolan (for whom it was named) and the many Libertarians who donated for its purchase. To be expected from the MC lead regime, but I though we were past that. Apparently, this party is so divided that we couldn’t put aside our differences to save it. So sad. Now we will be paying rent with no gain in equity and storing historical items in some obscure closet. Given the huge amount of inflation since 2014, the real loss is much greater than the raw dollar difference.
Blaming Sarwark for the building is incorrect. The purchase approach was much earlier. Sarwark simple simply paid off the mortgage.
They should have never bought a building to begin with in this digital age. Maybe in 1995. One of the biggest blunders of the Sarwark era.
Pretty sad that this LNC has flushed down the toilet a decade of work by others building up assets and credibility for the LP. As a building donor myself, I am disgusted.
It is my understanding that a plaque was placed in the office showing the names of all the major contributors to the Nolan hq building. Was this plaque saved? Who has it? Are there any pictures of the plaque? Those named on the plaque should be allowed to decide if they want their donation back or used for other LP purposes.
If all of the work that was done at the National Office can be done cheaper remote there was no point in having the office.
I have gathered petition signatures in Washington DC and the Maryland and Virginia DC suburbs and after talkung to THOUSANDS of people I never encountered anyone who was not already a Libertarian Party who knew that the Libertarian Party had an office there.
The Libertarian Party already has a presence in the DC metro area with the LP affiliates in DC, Maryland and Virginia, and the party does have candidates on the ballot in these places in most elections.
The office was an over-priced and unneeeded luxury item that the party could never really financially justify with its limited resources, at least not since modern technology made the need for a physical office obsolete.
If the party ever gets to the point where it is!raising lots of money, say $50-$100 million plus per year, and the party has s lot more people in elected office, maybe at that point it would make more sense for the party to put money into luxury items like a physical office in the DC metro area.
Dear Duty,
We did a full scale reno of the building in 2014 for $28K including walls, paint, etc. I know of the damage because much of it occurred while I was still there. Many of the issues concerning the roof where resolved – but with a flat roof every time there’s a bad storm things can happen. These things we’re mainly of a cosmetic nature. Water getting in around where the HVAC rests. I am aware of what the costs assc with repair would have been. I can tell you $100K is a lot more than they needed to spend.
I can also tell you they had a standing offer for a while – $200K less than value – to sell. They took it because obviously that was easier than investing time & money into actually fixing up the property to sell. Also they had claimed they did not have the funds to fix the building.
Read my memo linked above. Holding onto the property while renting it could have been an options. The area is under development & the propertly ultimately in a couple years could get $1M plus.
To Mr. Kraus:
The purchase price of $825K was most likely at the top of an inflated real estate market to coincide when the Obama administration expanded the size of the federal government.
There has been conversations about selling the building before the 2022 Reno Convention since LPHQ staff mostly worked remote.
New roof, new interior and transaction/commission costs easily balloon to over $100K. It’s about break even or a small loss.
Taking such a loss in this market where properties – even fixer uppers – rapidly escalated in resale vaLue just broadcasts the ongoing incompetence of this LNC.
The purchase price is a matter of public record: $825K
The current value, with a small investment for repairs ($25-50K) – would have netted about $800-825K – reducing the losses by about $200K – an excellent ROI. Yes, they could have fundraised (from one major donor) for this. They could have taken a loan. They could have borrowed from a donor.
If they sold a couple years ago – when a certain someone suggested – they would have perhaps received $900K plus.
The organization – as a matter of fairness even if not required by law – should have offered the donors to this project the opportunity to direct where these funds should go:
a) Paying off current debt & upcoming immediate expenses
b) Ballot access for 2026 & 2028
c) Left ion a fund for a future HQ
d) Returned to donor
Since 2022 it was known the building would be sold. It was going to happen because this board & last did not want to have a permanent presents in the DC area like the other 2 legacy parties. They did not believe in the message “we’re here to stay & be in your faces” – they did not want to participate in the political process of the federal government or trying to influence bills or messaging on a national level.
They should disband as a national party & simply operate at the state & local level.
They went over the last 3 or so years from needing several years to win back donors & members to perhaps now needing a decade or more to re-build the trust.
The entire thing is sad.
Taking a $175,000 loss on a DC area property after a decade of ownership is a neat trick. Absolutely unbelievable!
could be the beginning of the end.
Selling the building for less the LNC paid for it does not speak well of the competence or planning fo the current leadership.
If prices are lower, why was there a desire to sell? The building was bought to give the LNC a permanent headquarters, not subject
to rent increases or eviction.
On a positive note, maybe it means we are heading into a recession that will drive down real estate prices. I do need more space for the Renaissance Book Shop.