On May 30, Portland, Oregon, celebrated the completion of a $139 million renovation of the 18-story Edith Green-Wendell Wyatt Federal Building (EGWW). First opened in 1975, the boxy, concrete-and-steel high rise, aging home to the IRS,…
Howard T. Markey Federal Courthouse, home to the U.S. Court of Federal Claims (photo: waymarking.com) Looming large in the federal lease portfolio and in the minds of federal property investors is the “prospectus lease.” Numbering just over 200 nationwide, these are the GSA leases that exceed $3.095 million in annual levelized rent (net of most […]
Rep. Jeff Denham Presiding Over House Subcommittee Hearing On the second day of congressional hearings on the GSA Las Vegas Conference scandal, the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure’s Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings and Emergency Management, led by Committee Chairman John Mica (R-Fla.) and Subcommittee Chairman Jeff Denham (R-Calif.), sought detailed information about […]
Scene From Awards Ceremony There has been a tsunami of press this entire stemming from the Las Vegas Conference that led to the resignation of GSA Administrator Martha Johnson and the related firing of GSA’s Public Buildings Commissioner, Bob Peck. The $822,751 Western Regions Conference, which is the subject of the scandal, has received a […]
The Bureau of Labor Statistics recently posted the January 2015 Consumer Price Index (CPI) figures and the results show that the measure declined 0.1% from a year ago*. This would be of little consequence to most non-economists but federal landlords must take note because the decline in CPI–for most GSA-leased properties–means a decline in rental income. First a little […]
Even before the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013, Congressional Republicans and Democrats sought common ground over energy efficiency. Most of the bills and other efforts have stalled or struck out, including the broadly supported but so far still-contentious bill known as the Energy Savings and Industrial Competitiveness Act (S. 1392). Also known as Shaheen-Portman, that […]
As of last month, the Automated Advanced Acquisition Program (AAAP) still allowed GSA and interested landlords to enter into leases of 5 years, 10 years or 5 years with a fixed-price five-year renewal option. However, this month saw the most significant revision to the AAAP program in many years – no longer will landlords have […]
Walter Reed Hospital (photo: AP/Luis M. Alvarez) From 1909 through mid-2011, the Walter Reed Army Medical Center (WRAMC, originally known as the Walter Reed General Hospital) was the U.S. Army’s flagship medical center. Located on a 110-acre site in Upper Northwest Washington, D.C., the center was named after Major Walter Reed, an army physician who […]
Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE: HIW) has announced that it has sold three government leased properties encompassing 553,000 square feet for $86.5 million or $156.42 PRSF. While the pricing may appear somewhat low on a PRSF basis,…
DARPA will move from 3701 N. Fairfax Dr. (left) into 675 N. Randolph St. (right). The John Shooshan Company has completed the 13-story, 350,000 square foot home of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) at Founders Square, 675 N Randolph Street in Arlington, Virginia. DARPA reportedly signed its first rent commencement SLA yesterday (retroactive to […]
The Colliers Government Solutions team represents owners of government-leased properties nationally. So, we travel a lot. This slideshow profiles my trip earlier this year to Kansas City–both Missouri and Kansas. Yes, there is snow on the ground because I took these photos several months ago and I’m just now posting them to the blog. (Use arrow buttons to […]
Which federal agency oversees the operation of the nation’s 100+ power-producing nuclear reactors, as well as about 36 research and test reactors? Created by the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) began operations on January 19, 1975. Its mission is “to license and regulate the nation’s civilian use of byproduct, source, […]
The mission of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) is to foster innovation and competitiveness by providing high-quality and timely examination of patent and trademark applications, guiding domestic and international intellectual property (IP) policy, and delivering IP information and education worldwide. The agency advises the president, the secretary of commerce, and other federal agencies on IP policy, protection, […]
You may have to squint to see it in the graph above but the federal lease inventory controlled by GSA has declined by a little more than a million square feet over the past year. This should be no surprise because in 2012 OMB issued its “Freeze the Footprint” memorandum making it clear that the federal real estate inventory […]
