This figure from GAO’s report shows that roughly half of all federal data center a slated for closure and that, in fact, almost 1/3 of federal data centers have already been closed. So, by this metric, agencies are making good progress. In 2010, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), the fiscal watchdog within the […]
https://public.tableau.com/views/LeaseExpirationsTrend2000-2014/Dashboard3?:embed=y&:display_count=yes (The graph above is interactive, pull the slider located above the column chart) We have published a few articles on this blog about the stunning pile-up of lease expirations in GSA’s national lease inventory and the reasons that have contributed to it, including Freeze the Footprint, downsizing mandates, budget distress and the effects of partisan gridlock. […]
One of the lessons learned from the October shutdown, as recently discussed on this blog, is that GSA rent is subject to congressional appropriations even though the Federal Buildings Fund (FBF) has the needed money. In fact, the FBF is flush with rents collected from GSA customer agencies that expect the nation’s landlord to professionally maintain […]
View Larger Map As we’ve reported in numerous postings throughout the past year (click on “BRAC” in the “Categories” to the right), the Base Closure and Realignment (BRAC) process has led to the closure of more than 350 military bases—and the shifting of many military operations from one base to another—since 1988. The most recent […]
The roots of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) date back more than 200 years, to 1807, when the nation’s first scientific agency, the Survey of the Coast (later known as the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey), was established. NOAA itself was formed as part of the Department of Commerce in 1970—amid rising concerns […]
Surprisingly, the U.S. Constitution makes no provisions for a federal budget and, in fact, the federal government operated without a comprehensive budget process until 1921. The Budget and Accounting Act of 1921, which has been amended many times, provides for a federal budget system and requires the President to prepare and submit an annual budget […]
Only one of these illustrations depicts the venomous coral snake. The rest are harmless. (Answer: A…if you are in North America) You’ve inspected the building and it appears sound. You’ve interviewed the tenants and they seem happy. You’ve toured the market and it triggers no alarms. You’ve done all of your normal due diligence, so you buy. Then, […]
The SBA recently (September 25, 2012) issued three final rules in the Federal Register, effective October 24, that increase the size standards for some types of firms in three North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) sectors, including Sector 53, Real Estate and Rental and Leasing. SBA increased size standards for businesses in 21 areas of Sector 53, […]
It is well-documented that since Freeze The Footprint began in 2012, the GSA and its tenant agencies have been actively pursuing consolidation and downsizing in order to meet these requirements. The question is – how has this dynamic impacted the investment market for GSA and other Federal-leased properties during the past 4+ years? The table […]
As we noted late last year, Rep. William “Bill” Shuster (R-Pa.) has replaced Rep. John Mica (R-Fla.) as chairman of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee—the body that provides oversight for public buildings issues—in the 113th Congress. (Mica was forced to step down after six years as chairman or ranking member because of term limits set […]
Photo: GSA Blogs More than six years after ground was broken—and after a nearly two-year construction stoppage—the federal government officially opened the new NOAA Center for Weather and Climate Prediction at the University of Maryland’s M Square Research and Technology Park last week (October 15). The 268,762-square-foot, four-story building is now home to more than […]
The Obama administration’s “OMB Report Pursuant to the Sequestration Transparency Act of 2012,” released last Friday (September 14, 2012), outlines the “devastating” and “deeply destructive” impacts on virtually all aspects of the federal budget that will take…
Competitors vie for neither lucrative NBA contracts nor sizable office bracket pools in GSA’s March Madness-style Federal Building Challenge. An annual competition between sustainable buildings around the country, the contest awards the winner only bragging rights for a year. But in reality the stakes are high: educating the building community, government and public about innovations […]
Members of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform expressed outrage while peppering current and former GSA leaders with hard-hitting questions about their role in the 2010 Western Regions Conference scandal—which was the subject of a recent inspector general’s report on excessive spending—yesterday, in the first of this week’s four scheduled Congressional hearings. The […]
