The FBI announced Tuesday that it had selected the Ronald Reagan Building complex in Washington, D.C., to replace the historic J. Edgar Hoover Building as its headquarters.

The news comes after FBI Director Kash Patel said in May that the bureau would be leaving the Hoover building, where it has been for over 50 years. The announcement was made in conjunction with the General Services Administration (GSA), which said the move to an existing government building instead of a new one would save taxpayer dollars. 

“This is a historic moment for the FBI,” Patel said. “Through our strong partnerships with members of Congress and GSA, we are ushering FBI Headquarters into a new era and providing our agents of justice a safer place to work. Moving to the Ronald Reagan Building is the most cost effective and resource efficient way to carry out our mission to protect the American people and uphold the Constitution.”

JULY 4 SALE: Get Six Months Of DW+ Free

There have been talks for nearly two decades about moving the FBI from the Hoover building, which was completed in 1975. A 2011 report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) said the building needed serious repairs and was “inefficient” for the FBI’s needs.

“FBI’s existing headquarters at the Hoover building is a perfect example of a government building that has accumulated years of deferred maintenance, suffering from an aging water system to concrete falling off the structure,” said GSA Acting Administrator Stephen Ehikian. “I am proud of GSA’s commitment to working with Director Patel and his FBI team to find a building that best supports their mission and their people.”

Both Maryland and Virginia attempted to get the FBI headquarters moved to their state, but President Trump said he wanted to keep the FBI based in D.C. Trump scuttled plans from former President Joe Biden to build a new $2.5 billion building in suburban Maryland for the FBI.

The Reagan Building currently houses U.S. Customs and Border Protection and was previously occupied by USAID, which has been shut down and transferred to the State Department. 

Before he became FBI director, Patel said that he would “shut down the FBI Hoover building on Day 1 and [reopen it the] next day as a museum of the deep state.” Patel has also pledged to disperse the FBI employees across the country away from D.C.