After paying $119 million dollars on a former warehouse near Tremont, and $87.4 million on another one in Berks County, the federal government is selling both after scrapping plans to use them as immigrant detention centers.

Both properties are listed on the Cushman & Wakefield U.S. website. No sales prices were listed.

The international company, headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, deals in commercial and industrial properties. It also has listed a former envelope factory in Ashland, and another industrial property in Tower City, Schuylkill County.

The 1.3 million-square foot former Big Lots warehouse is at 50 Rausch Creek Road, Tremont Township. It was proposed by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency to hold 7,500 people.

The 527,000-square foot warehouse in Upper Bern Township, Berks County is at 3501 Mountain Road, Hamburg. It was to hold up to 1,500 people.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security bought the properties in January. When news of the purchases surfaced, Tremont residents were infuriated. They showed up at county commissioners’ meetings to voice their outrage, most questioning the wisdom of planning such a huge operation in an area already struggling with inadequate water and sewer infrastructure.

The state Department of Environmental Protection in March issued orders to halt the plan until DHS/ICE provided written proof the facility would not impact water sources and that sewage would be safely disposed of.

County commissioners also insisted that, among other requirements, DHS/ICE provide payments in lieu of the property taxes that were lost when the building transferred from private to government ownership.

But plans for the former warehouses were scrapped earlier this year after Markwayne Mullin took over DHS from the beleaguered Kristi Noem.

The two warehouses were among seven properties DHS decided to not develop into detention centers for undocumented immigrants. The other five are in Michigan, Texas, Georgia and Utah.