Choctaw Nation Buys Former Big Lots Warehouse, Closing Off Oklahoma ICE Detention Site

The sale is the second time in months that a large Oklahoma warehouse pursued by ICE for detention use has instead gone to another buyer.

Screenshot of the former Big Lots facility at 2306 Enterprise Drive in Durant, Okla. The site was formerly under consideration for purchase by ICE for use as a detention facility. Screenshot from LoopNet.

The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma announced Wednesday it has purchased the former Big Lots distribution center in Durant — a 1.24-million-square-foot warehouse that had been under informal consideration by Immigration and Customs Enforcement as a potential detention site.

The purchase removes the property, located at 2306 Enterprise Drive, from the federal market and, based on Project Salt Box analysis of comparable warehouse conversions, forecloses an estimated 8,500 detention beds from ICE’s expanding warehouse-to-detention pipeline. That figure is derived from comparisons with similarly sized warehouse sales under the agency’s Detention Reengineering Initiative, including a facility in El Paso, Texas, where ICE has targeted the same detainee count in a warehouse of comparable size.

Chief Gary Batton said the nation has not yet determined a use for the facility, describing it as an opportunity to support operational growth adjacent to the tribe’s existing headquarters campus on Durant’s south side.

The Durant property had drawn public attention in late 2025 after the city of Durant acknowledged it had “reason to believe” the site was being considered for ICE detention use. Mayor Martin Tucker said at the time the city had received no direct contact from federal officials and that the property was not zoned for a detention facility. By January, the Durant City Council had voted unanimously to pass an ordinance restricting property sales to ICE. Choctaw Nation Tribal Council representative Mabray, speaking before the vote, said the council would view a large detention facility at the Big Lots property as incompatible with surrounding land uses.

The purchase is the second time in recent months that a large Oklahoma warehouse targeted for potential ICE use has instead gone to another buyer or been pulled from consideration. In Oklahoma City, the Department of Homeland Security had outlined plans to convert a warehouse near the Western Heights School District into a detention center capable of holding 1,500 people. Following weeks of opposition from residents and city council members, the warehouse owner broke off talks with the agency.

ICE's Detention Reengineering Initiative, details of which emerged through New Hampshire state government filings in February, aims to build a national detention model around the purchase and retrofitting of commercial warehouses. Six processing centers acquired since January are each designed to hold between 1,000 and 1,500 people for up to a week. An additional four "mega centers" — intended to hold up to 10,000 people for as long as 60 days — have also been purchased in that period.

Project Salt Box analysis of operating costs and Bryan County tax records indicates that running the Durant facility as a detention center at that bed count would have cost the federal government upwards of $500 per bed, per day — a rate of approximately $1 billion annually. The sale to the Choctaw Nation also preserves an estimated $100,000 in annual property tax revenue within Oklahoma that would have been lost had the federal government taken ownership of the site.

The Durant distribution center opened in 2004 and served as a 1.24-million-square-foot regional hub for Big Lots stores across 16 states before the retailer closed it following its 2024 bankruptcy.

The Choctaw Nation is the third-largest tribal nation in the United States by enrollment, with more than 230,000 members. Its headquarters campus spans 500,000 square feet on the same stretch of Enterprise Boulevard as the acquired property. The tribe did not disclose a purchase price or a timeline for the property's use. Deed records were not immediately available from the Bryan County Assessor's office.

For more analysis, visit our ICE Warehouse Tracker.