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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
The historic Apex Building is the object of the power struggle between Rep. Mica and the FTC Since 2005, House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman John Mica (R-Fla.) has been attempting to transfer the historic Apex Building from the FTC—which has been headquartered there since the building opened in 1938 —to the National Gallery of Art […]
This is the age of Big Data. Given the flood of information, it is also the age of the big data center. Most of us don’t think much about these out-of-sight, out-of-mind hives of humming computers, but they are central to the modern wired economy, and they eat up energy in proportion to their importance—an […]
GSAXCHANGE, the investment sales arm of Colliers Government Solutions, has published its Fall 2013 “Government Market Insight” report, which includes an overview of sales activity and trends in the federal sector. Despite the dire headlines and…
One of the primary issues federal agencies must address when leasing space is budget scoring. “Scoring” (as the term is routinely used in federal leasing) is the process by which the government determines if it is entering into an operating lease or a capital lease. The implications of this scoring process are considerable: Operating leases […]
It is a well-accepted fact that the federal leased space market is shrinking. This is troublesome, yet for investors the real question has been whether the shrinking inventory has also made investment opportunities more scarce. The answer, unfortunately,…
SOM rendering of the new L.A. courthouse (source: GSA) Downtown Los Angeles is one step closer to getting a new federal courthouse. Earlier this month (Dec. 10), GSA awarded a $318 million design-build contract for the project to Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) and Clark Construction Group. The 550,000-square-foot shimmering white cube—to be built on […]
Which federal agency’s headquarters received a 2012 Award of Excellence in Architecture from AIA DC (the Washington chapter of the American Institute of Architects)? Skidmore, Owings & Merrill won the award for its design of the Suitland, Md., headquarters of the U.S. Bureau of the Census (also referred to as the Census Bureau), a LEED […]
Photo: GSA Child Care Desk Guide 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 on audits conducted between September 2017 and August 2018, is heavily redacted. However, […]
“Man Controlling Trade” sculpture outside FTC headquarters building Two Art Deco sculptures adorn the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) headquarters at Constitution and Pennsylvania avenues, depicting muscular men wrestling rebellious stallions and symbolizing government’s role in controlling trade. But a contentious hearing on December 3rd of the House Subcommittee on Government Operations suggests another interpretation: the […]
