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 […]
On February 13th GSA submitted its FY 2013 Congressional Justification, an outline of GSA’s planned programs and budget. At 243 pages it’s not an easy read, but there are some notable discoveries. The following is our summary of some of the more interesting features of this year’s Congressional Justification. Our focus, of course, is on […]
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 is…
Which federal agency’s headquarters is housed in a structure whose cornerstone was laid with the same silver trowel that President George Washington used to lay the cornerstone of the U.S. Capitol in 1793? Since 1938, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has been headquartered in the Apex Building—so named because it sits at the apex of […]
The following is an excerpt from a presentation I gave at the National Federal Development Association conference earlier this month in Washington, D.C. The presentation covered three themes: 1) The size of the federally leased property market is small; 2) It is getting smaller, and; 3) There are five factors that could return the market to future growth. This article […]
We recently discovered Pinterest. The service brands itself as “a tool for collecting and organizing things you love.” Well, we love government real estate so we decided to start our own Pinterest site entitled exactly that: “Government Real Estate”. It’s a place for us to post some of our favorite photos of government projects, people […]
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, […]
