Nashville House office building leased for ICE legal operations, raising disclosure questions for property owner

Federal lease places ICE’s legal arm in MetroCenter office property

A commercial office building in Nashville’s MetroCenter area has been leased for use by the Office of the Principal Legal Advisor (OPLA), the legal branch of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) that represents the Department of Homeland Security in immigration removal proceedings and provides legal counsel to ICE programs.

The property identified for the office is Nashville House, an office building on Vantage Way. The building is owned by the Nashville-based real estate company Freeman Webb. The lease was executed through the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), the federal agency that acquires and manages workspace for government operations.

Owner says tenant agency identity was not disclosed in lease

Freeman Webb leadership said the company understood the space was being leased by GSA for general government office functions and that ICE was not referenced in the lease documents or lease-related communications. Company officials said they were not told the space would be used by OPLA and stated they did not know what OPLA was until after recent reporting about ICE’s planned expansion.

The company said it is reviewing potential legal options under the terms of the lease agreement. Freeman Webb also stated it has leased space in the past to other federal entities, including the Internal Revenue Service and the U.S. military, and described this lease as materially different because of the undisclosed end user.

What OPLA does and why office space matters

OPLA functions as the government’s legal representative in immigration court removal proceedings, and it also advises ICE personnel on issues that include immigration and customs enforcement authorities, the Freedom of Information Act and Privacy Act, ethics, and administrative law matters. ICE describes OPLA as the largest legal program within the Department of Homeland Security, with a nationwide field presence in more than 90 offices.

Unlike ICE’s enforcement components that focus on arrests and removals, OPLA’s work centers on litigation and legal support. Even so, establishing or expanding an OPLA office can increase local capacity to file and litigate cases in immigration court, and may affect how quickly proceedings move for people whose cases are handled in the region.

Broader context: national buildout of ICE facilities

The Nashville lease surfaced as part of a wider set of federal leasing activity tied to ICE office growth across the United States. The expansion includes new leases and office buildouts for both OPLA and ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO). In Nashville, the planned OPLA move has been described as positioning an ICE-related government office in an area near multiple houses of worship.

• Nashville House is located in MetroCenter, a major office district north of downtown.
• The lease is held by GSA, which may lease space on behalf of federal agencies.
• Freeman Webb says it is examining remedies within the lease structure.

Freeman Webb said it would not have knowingly leased the space for ICE use and that the intended use was not disclosed in the lease documentation.

As of mid-February 2026, public details about the timing of occupancy, staffing levels, and the specific scope of OPLA operations planned for the Nashville site have not been released by federal agencies in the lease materials described by the property owner.