The Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) is one of three organizational elements within the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). (The other two are the Veterans Health Administration and the National Cemetery Administration.) VBA is responsible for administering VA programs that provide financial and other nonmedical forms of assistance to veterans, their dependents and their survivors. […]
Click on the map above to open the interactive dashboard. We are often asked to talk about the GSA-leased inventory and we enjoy doing it. In particular, investors and lenders challenge us to help them understand the true breadth of the GSA-leased property portfolio. How big is it really? How many properties are leased solely […]
As discussed in Part 1 of this two-part series on GSA’s budget problems, Congress has screwed down the appropriations spigot, nearly shutting it off completely. That article showed how congressional appropriations for GSA’s Construction & Alterations projects and Repairs & Maintenance programs have declined dramatically over the past several years. The appropriated funds are insufficient […]
The Federal Real Property Profile (FRPP) is a comprehensive and descriptive database of “all real property under the custody and control of all executive branch agencies, except when otherwise required for reasons of national security, in accordance with Executive Order 13327.” It was created by that executive order, which was signed by President George W. Bush […]
Earlier this month we reported that a dozen prospectus resolutions had been added to the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee mark-up agenda – and then removed the day before the meeting. Their appearance tantalized us with the prospect that these resolutions would finally be approved. Alas, it was not to be. Since we snoop around […]
St Elizabeths East – Current Condition (Photo: Crystal Bae, www.crystalbae.com) While GSA and DHS have been working on the much-delayed DHS Headquarters Campus on (primarily) the west side of the former St Elizabeths Hospital site, the District of Columbia has been planning its own redevelopment project on the east side of Martin Luther King Blvd. […]
Immediately following Donald Trump’s oath of office, his campaign proposal Contract with the American Voter became an action plan. The second item listed is the President’s declaration that he would pursue “a hiring freeze on all federal employees to reduce the federal workforce through attrition (exempting military, public safety, and public health).” The hiring freeze […]
Foreign-owned buildings containing high security space leased by GSA (Source: GAO | GAO-17-195) Last week the Government Accountability Office (GAO) publicly released its report titled GSA Should Inform Tenant Agencies When Leasing High-Security Space From Foreign Owners. The title pretty well summarizes the report’s conclusion – that GSA should determine if its high-security leased buildings are owned by […]
With Veterans Day approaching, we turn our spotlight on the federal government’s second-largest department. With more than 10,000 employees and more than 150 hospitals, 300 vet centers and 800 community-based outpatient clinics—as well as hundreds of other facilities nationwide—the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is second in size only to the Department of Defense. […]
Which “agency” forms one of the federal government’s three separate and distinct branches? The U.S. Courts—also known as the judicial branch, the federal judiciary and the federal courts—were created under Article III of the U.S. Constitution, and include the Supreme Court of the United States, district courts, appellate courts, bankruptcy courts and courts of special […]
Watching the National Science Foundation shuffle in the starting blocks, most of the Northern Virginia real estate community has expressed certainty that, especially in this budget environment, NSF is unlikely to be moving from its present…
Hipolito F. Garcia Building during renovation (Photo: Waymarking.com) A green roof is the centerpiece of the renovated 75-year-old Hipolito F. Garcia Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in San Antonio, part of what makes it the “greenest” building owned by GSA. It is the first GSA-owned building to earn LEED-Platinum certification, thanks to a $56.6 million […]
Government real estate at the federal, state and local level is roughly estimated to comprise 6 billion square feet in the United States and its territories. Colliers International Government Solutions operates in this space daily, advising both private landlords and public agencies on issues related to the real estate leasing, sales and policy matters unique to […]
A unique feature of GSA leases is that when lessors reduce their operating costs, GSA does not receive the benefit, because the government pays for operating cost adjustments based upon the change in CPI–not actual cost changes. Yet, GSA does reimburse lessors for actual increases in Real Estate Taxes. In the event that taxes decrease, GSA receives […]
