Before leaving her post as secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem purchased a massive warehouse in Salt Lake City, Utah, for $145.4 million – more than half of its tax-assessed cost estimated, to be used for immigration detention, according to a report.
Seeking to expand immigration detention space, the department bought the 833,000-square-foot warehouse located roughly seven miles from the Great Salt Lake on March 11, days after President Donald Trump announced Noem’s departure.
Not only were local and state officials uninformed of the costly purchase before it was made, but the $145 million price tag was roughly 48 percent more than its 2025 tax-assessed value of $97 million, The Atlantic reported.
It’s unclear why the warehouse was purchased for so much more than its seeming value. One person familiar with the purchase told The Atlantic that the warehouse had previously been appraised at $130 million, still more than 30 percent more than it’s tax assessed value, and that the seller made $10 million in improvements.
The Utah warehouse purchase, along with others like it, has been placed under review after Secretary Markwayne Mullin took over the department, the Associated Press reported.
The Independent has asked the Department of Homeland Security for comment.
Lauren Bis, a spokesperson for DHS, told The Atlantic that the pause was part of Mullin’s transition process, which requires “reviewing agency policies and proposals.”
Unnamed DHS and ICE officials told The Atlantic that the department was interested in purchasing a large detention facility in Utah because it would give immigration enforcement access to a hub in the Rocky Mountain region.
The location of the purchased warehouse at 6020 W. 300 South in Salt Lake City could be beneficial to federal officials in transporting detainees since it’s roughly two miles from Salt Lake City International Airport and approximately three miles from Interstate 80.
But immediately upon purchasing, DHS faced pushback from local officials, including Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall, who vowed to fight the agency’s plans to turn to warehouse into a detention center.
For now, the detention facility’s use is on pause.
Likely, the $145.4 million purchase is part of an Inspector General investigation into Noem’s contracting at DHS. Last month, CNN reported that the independent watchdog had opened an inquiry into how Noem solicited contracts after months of controversy raised questions about her techniques.
Under Noem’s brief leadership, any contract or grant worth more than $100,000 required her direct sign-off. That meant that necessary contracts, such as those for FEMA, faced a backlog while awaiting the secretary’s signature. That policy has since been rescinded by Mullin.
Reports also emerged accusing Noem of delegating authority to her unpaid de facto chief of staff, Corey Lewandowski. A lawyer for Lewandowski has denied allegations that his client had any role in contract review, approval or administration.
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