Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) Leadership changes in the 113th Congress already are having an impact on federal real estate decisions. Maryland lawmakers—led by Democratic Sen. Barbara Mikulski, who recently took over as chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee—announced last week (Thursday, January 3) that the Treasury Department and GSA have agreed to delay plans to […]
If the Farm Service Agency (FSA) sounds as if it might be some forgotten holdover of the alphabet-soup New Deal of nine decades ago, there is good reason. Although it was formally instituted only in 1996, during the last months of Bill Clinton’s first term as president, it harkens back to several programs of the US […]
The Southwest EcoDistrict showing locations of the Cotton Annex, the Dept. of Energy’s Forrestal Building, the Federal Aviation Administration HQ and GSA’s Regional Office Building (ROB) for the National Capital Region (NCR). The November 19 hearing, “Federal Triangle South: Redeveloping Underutilized Federal Property Through Public Private Partnerships,” began with optimistic opening remarks. Lou Barletta (R-PA), […]
1801 N Lynn Street (Photo: CoStar) As the Washington Business Journal reported earlier this month, GSA has canceled its efforts to replace the 343,000 RSF State Department lease at 1801 N. Lynn Street in the Rosslyn submarket of Northern Virginia. In its posting on FedBizOpps GSA wrote that “the Government is now evaluating federal ownership for this […]
The U.S. government leases space all across the nation–including in some pretty remote locations. Yet, the bulk of federal government tenancy can be found in just 20 markets. The map above shows the 20 largest markets for U.S. Government leases as measured by Core Based Statistical Area (CBSA)*. We track nearly 7,000 properties that are leased in whole or […]
Despite increasing congressional pressure to improve the number of long, firm-term leases, GSA and its tenant agencies have proven that they are not yet serious about weaning themselves from their addiction to termination rights. As measured from the leasing peak in 2010 (note: some of the leases in that year are due to short term Census leases), the number […]
Which agency administers more public land than any other federal agency? Located within the U.S. Department of the Interior, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) administers more than 245 million surface acres (approximately one eighth of the nation’s land mass)—most of it in 12 western states, including Alaska—while also managing 700 million acres of sub-surface […]
Photo: va.gov The federal Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) owns or operates 168 medical centers and 1,053 outpatient facilities that serve a population of 8.9 million veterans each year, ranking it among the largest healthcare providers in the United States. It is also one of the largest property-holding agencies in the federal government, owning 6,091 […]
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), signed by President Obama on February 13, 2009, called for major new construction and the energy-efficient modernization of federal office buildings, courthouses and land ports across the country. This article—which profiles the $139 million modernization project now underway at the Edith Green–Wendell Wyatt Federal Building at 1220 SE […]
Which federal agency’s motto is “Freedom’s Front Door”? The U.S. Military Entrance Processing Command (USMEPCOM)—a Department of Defense (DoD) joint civilian and military organization—is charged with the unique and challenging task of determining the physical, mental and moral qualifications of every potential new member of the nation’s armed services. Headquartered at the Great Lakes Naval […]
Which federal agency has been part of five different departments? The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) began in 1891 as the Office of Superintendent of Immigration in the Treasury Department. In 1903, the by-then renamed Bureau of Immigration was transferred to the newly created Department of Commerce and Labor. In 1913, it was placed […]
GSA is on track to complete a two-year, $39 million project to link the building systems at 39 of its high-energy-use buildings in Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico and Texas on schedule in October, Federal Times reported…
Rep. Jeff Denham (left) and Sen. Tom Carper (right) Congress has been busy this year working on bills meant to pave the way for the disposition of thousands of unneeded or underutilized properties. This is one of those rare instances where the Republican House and the Democratic Senate fundamentally agree. They both concede that the […]
Though the federal lease inventory continued to shrink in 2015, there was plenty of action, especially in the Washington, DC area where most of the big federal tenants reside. Here is a selection of the most notable transaction activity this past year: The Largest New Lease In October, GSA announced the award of a 839,000 RSF lease to Stonebridge Carras to […]
