The government right now is, well, it’s in turmoil. That’s voiced as an opinion but it feels like actual, quantifiable fact. The United States is still fighting its way out of a deep and prolonged recession,…
If you think getting an immigration bill, say, or healthcare reform through a bitterly divided Congress is hard, try an annual budget. In mid-September, Congress, having been unable to agree on that budget, passed what is called a continuing resolution (CR), an instrument that, absent just such an agreed-upon budget, allows for the ongoing funding […]
Earlier this week we wrote that Moodys had announced that it is considering a downgrade of U.S. sovereign debt, this following a similar downgrade by Standard & Poor’s last year. At that time, as now, federal government-leased property investors find themselves engaging in a gut-check. After all, there are only two reasons to invest in […]
What federal agency has shrunk to its smallest size in more than a century? The answer—the U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO)—is no surprise, given the huge changes in printing and information technology that have taken place in recent decades. The agency that once printed, bound, and distributed about 25,000 copies of the Congressional Record every […]
An eerie quiet has descended over much of the 354 million square feet of real estate owned and leased by the General Services Administration (GSA). Facilities around the U.S. and its territories emptied on October 1 when the new fiscal year arrived without a budget approved by Congress. As required by law for all federal […]
The Department of State finally executed its long-awaited consolidation lease at 600 19th Street, NW in Washington, DC. The consolidation will merge the State’s Consular Affairs and Administration Bureaus from eight locations in Foggy Bottom and Rosslyn into this single address. State will occupy the entire 456,587 RSF building (net of retail), which is owned […]
FBI’s Hoover Building occupies more than a full city block of prime real estate fronting Pennsylvania Avenue. Yesterday (Monday, December 3, 2012), GSA formally sought new ideas on how to develop a consolidated FBI headquarters campus—possibly by exchanging the much maligned J. Edgar Hoover (JEH) FBI Building (and the land on which it stands) to […]
Every now and again, you can expect from us a self-promotion interlude, and today is one of those days. The following is an excerpt from our corporate press release announcing Colliers’ ranking in the Lipsey annual real estate brand survey. The Government Solutions group is proud to be a member of Colliers’ dynamic global platform. […]
Dr. Dorothy Robyn testifying before Congress earlier this year. Acting GSA Commissioner Dan Tangherlini has picked Dorothy Robyn, deputy undersecretary of defense for installations and environment at the Department of Defense (DoD), to be the new Public Buildings Service (PBS) commissioner. Tangherlini also abolished the PBS board of directors “to ensure [Robyn] has the appropriate […]
Donald Trump’s campaign rallies leading into the 2016 election were energized by his pledge to “Drain the Swamp” in the Nation’s Capital. Little did rally-goers know how politics and circumstance would stand in the way of this top Trump administration goal—a complete reorganization, downsizing and dispersion of bureaucracy. The only physical manifestations of those efforts […]
The following is a guest post written by Mark Miller, the head of Colliers’ national Energy & Sustainability team. To learn more about Colliers’ Energy and Sustainability services, click here. The Federal Government is taking aggressive steps to…
Yesterday, President Obama submitted his FY 2013 budget to Congress. What was perhaps most surprising was that the budget, on the top line, actually grew slightly to $3.803 trillion. As the Brookings Institute’s William Gallston noted…
Photo: Workspace Utilization and Allocation Benchmark Study, July 2011 On Federal News Radio this past Friday, Elaine Clancy, GSA’s Director of Leasing, was interviewed regarding GSA’s efforts at space reduction and consolidation and her answers underscored a broader theme growing ever louder at GSA: the Federal Government will get smaller. As she stated in her […]
Among the revelations in the unfolding scandal over U.S. veterans’ health care is the sprawling size of the Veterans Health Administration (VHA). A vast component of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), the VHA runs the nation’s largest direct health care delivery system. It administers and operates facilities providing primary care, specialized care and social […]
