Colliers recently released its U.S. 2021 Investor Sentiment Survey Results, an annual look at the mood of the investor community at the start of the New Year. Not surprisingly, more than half of all investors surveyed…
With over 1,000 leased facilities, often in single-tenant buildings, the Social Security Administration (SSA) is a staple of many federal investor portfolios. Like other federal agencies, however, SSA has been dutifully implementing the “Reduce the Footprint”…
The government real estate sector is the largest in the United States. It’s also the most complex because the government’s procedures for acquiring, managing and disposing of real property are subject to layers of regulations, policy, legislation and executive orders. Making sense of it all can be challenging, but Colliers’ Government Solutions team understands how […]
The title of a new report by the US General Services Administration (GSA), issued on January 30, 2020, speaks volumes: “Child Care Centers in GSA-Controlled Buildings Have Significant Security Vulnerabilities.” The 30-page report that follows, drawing…
Which federal agency began moving into its current headquarters building on November 22, 1963—the day President John F. Kennedy was assassinated? The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)—the national aviation authority of the United States—has the power to…
OMB Controller Danny Werfel (photo: whitehouse.gov) As it noted in a White House blog posting by Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Controller Danny Werfel Thursday, the Obama Administration has made disposing of unneeded properties and making more efficient use of the government’s real estate assets a priority for federal agencies. As the next step […]
In January 2018, then–Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke announced a sweeping program to reorganize the department, the largest such reorganization since its founding in 1849. Zinke’s plan involved dividing the United States into thirteen regions,…
The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) leases private property at a cost of billions of dollars—$5.7 billion annually, to be precise, spread out over more than 8,000 leases. Every year, the agency claims, it saves taxpayers…
The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013 has sparked a faint glow of optimism that agencies will plan more strategically for their space needs in the coming years. Last spring, a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report estimated that maintenance and operations of unused federal courthouse space cost the government $51 million per year, and in September, […]
After a cliffhanger Senate vote on July 31, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) has its first permanent director in 7 years. B. Todd Jones, acting director since 2011, now officially heads a law enforcement organization with a mission “to protect communities from violent criminals, criminal organizations, the illegal use and trafficking […]
Photo: White House President Obama last week announced that he is asking Congress for the authority to merge six trade and commerce entities into a single department tasked with boosting American business and promoting competitiveness. Specifically, his plan would merge the Small Business Administration, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, the Export-Import Bank, the […]
If you think the world of government real estate is a staid and boring place, think again. There is a lot going on: big transactions, important policy and outright scandal. 2012 was no exception. We published 208 blog articles last year offering our observations on government real estate as events unfolded. A few of you […]
Hotel Entrance Rendering from Trump Organization Presentation Earlier this year, GSA announced that it had selected the Trump Organization to redevelop the historic Old Post Office Pavilion and annex as a world-class luxury hotel. Since then, the Trump team (headed by the Donald’s daughter, Ivanka) has been working through its plans and has held half a […]
The relationship between the 112th Congress and GSA is not particularly cozy. The House of Representatives, under the leadership of Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman, John Mica (R-FL), has sparred with GSA over efforts to relocate the FTC from its current headquarters, over lavish conferences, over bonuses for GSA Senior Executives, over space utilization, over […]