The House of Representatives, Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, convened this morning in a mark-up hearing to finally approve 11 prospectuses, nearly all of which have been languishing on the Hill for more than a year.  In fact, our quick review of the last 78 lease prospectuses approved by this committee confirms that process is rarely […]

Colliers today released its mid-year report profiling activity in North American office markets. The results are mostly bullish: Following the negative weather impact on most economic metrics earlier in the year, the U.S. economy rebounded well in subsequent months, adding more than 200,000 jobs per month between February and July and registering real GDP growth […]

With over 1,000 leased facilities, often in single-tenant buildings, the Social Security Administration (SSA) is a staple of many federal investor portfolios. Like other federal agencies, however, SSA has been dutifully implementing the “Reduce the Footprint”…

There are more than 5,000 distinct owners of GSA-leased properties in the United States but the ten listed above stand apart because, together, their properties house 15% of the entire GSA lease inventory. (GSA, take note:…

There are few investors of GSA-leased properties who have not engaged in hand-wringing over renewal rents, even when buying properties years in advance of the lease expiration date. Normally when presented with the question of whether the future rent is likely to increase, my response is to simply look at market rents on the whole. If they […]

Which federal agency operates the largest social insurance program in the world? The U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA) administers Social Security, the retirement, disability and survivors’ benefits that constitute more than 30% of all federal government expenditures. In 2012, more than 56 million Americans received about $778 billion in Social Security benefits. The agency’s predecessor, […]

The Nat King Cole Post Office in Los Angeles is for sale for $8.3 million. This is not a good time to consider embarking on a career as a letter carrier‚ especially not for someone living in a small town where not much mail comes down the chute. Neither is it a good time to […]

Byron G. Rogers Federal Building and Courthouse (Photo: HOK) The GSA is committed to responsible caretaking of its historic building legacy, which includes courthouses, post offices, border stations and offices around the country. The American Reinvestment and Recovery Act of 2009 (AARA) is facilitating the agency’s efforts by providing $1.665 billion—roughly 40% of the GSA’s ARRA […]

In keeping with the public health theme of our last “Spotlight” piece, we’re taking a look at another of major operating component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS): the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). This agency is responsible for protecting the public health by assuring the safety, efficacy and security of […]

In September, the GAO issued the latest in a long series of reports concluding that GSA’s leasing strategy is flawed. This report, entitled “Greater Transparency and Strategic Focus Needed for High-Value Leases”, studied the 218 largest leases in GSA’s portfolio. Though these account for only 3% of the total number of GSA leases, they comprise more than […]

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 […]

Last week, the Lipsey Company announced the results of its annual global survey, again ranking Colliers International the second-most recognized commercial real estate brand in the world. Now in its twelfth year, the Lipsey survey combines voting and focus group response to calculate the relative power of commercial real estate brands among all categories in the industry, […]

At last week’s Republican Convention the GOP platform was unveiled revealing the party’s plan to reduce the federal payroll by 10%, an effort we expect would be largely implemented through workforce reductions. This is nothing new. In fact conservatives in the legislative branch have already initiated a number of bills designed to cut both the […]

Next Tuesday, March 6, 2012, Colliers International will be hosting an informative webinar, “U.S. Commercial Real Estate: A Look Over the Horizon.” This in-depth panel discussion will feature four Colliers International market experts discussing the future of commercial real…