Freeman Webb, the Nashville real-estate firm headed by state Rep. Bob Freeman, is walking away from a controversial federal tenant at its Nashville House office building in MetroCenter. The company said Tuesday it will not renew the lease held by the Office of the Principal Legal Advisor, the legal arm of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, will donate profits from that lease to groups that support immigrant families, and will steer clear of federal office tenants in the future. The move follows weeks of pressure from local advocates and Metro Council members who have sounded alarms about ICE’s growing presence in the city.
The lease first drew public scrutiny in February, when an investigation by WIRED mapped a nationwide buildout of ICE legal offices and listed Nashville House as one of the new sites. Follow-up reporting in Nashville Scene confirmed that Freeman Webb owns the Nashville House property and that the deal with the Office of the Principal Legal Advisor was executed through the federal General Services Administration.
Freeman Webb will not renew the OPLA lease
Freeman Webb’s decision not to renew the OPLA tenancy, and to donate profits from the contract to immigrant-rights organizations, was outlined in coverage by Nashville Post. Freeman told the outlet that agreeing not to renew the lease “was an easy yes,” and the company said it had brought in both local and national legal counsel to examine what leverage, if any, the landlord has under the GSA agreement. According to the Post, Freeman Webb also offered to pay relocation costs if the tenant would agree to terminate early, an offer the Metro Council Immigrant Caucus says the tenant turned down.
Local elected officials and immigrant advocates respond
Metro Council members and immigrant-rights groups had been pressing for answers and protections since news of the lease surfaced. Councilmember Terry Vo and members of the Metro Immigrant Caucus have pushed for more transparency around federal leases and urged city leaders to keep a closer eye on where federal enforcement-related offices are sited, particularly near community hubs. Coverage by NewsChannel 5 has highlighted both the caucus’s oversight efforts and the broader community unease over ICE’s expanding legal footprint in Nashville.
Legal options and next steps
Landlords that sign on with the General Services Administration often have limited ways to unwind those deals, which usually require negotiated early terminations or buyouts instead of simple evictions, legal analysts note. An overview from Holland & Knight explains that lessors can try to secure a negotiated buyout, find a different federal agency to take over the space, or pursue contract remedies if the government walks away from a lease. Freeman Webb says its attorneys are reviewing the GSA agreement and potential paths forward, with the company signaling that it is looking for a solution that avoids a drawn-out confrontation.
The company has not put a timeline on when the OPLA tenancy might actually end, and any shift will likely require coordination with both the GSA and the tenant agency. For now, Freeman Webb’s public pledge, combined with sustained local pressure, puts a bright spotlight on how private landlords, city officials, and immigrant advocates respond when a national ICE expansion lands in their own backyard.
