The trend in space utilization is towards greater efficiency, mobile work and collaborative workspaces. As we have discussed many times on this blog (including here and here), the federal government has embarked on efforts across its leased and owned inventory to improve space utilization. The workplace is changing for federal agencies just as it is for […]

Net demand for office space during this recession now totals negative 153.1 MSF, far eclipsing the negative 92.4 MSF recorded during the Global Financial Crisis a little more than a decade ago. A recent article on Colliers’ Knowledge Leader blog observes that, while net demand remains negative, it was markedly less so in Q2 2021. […]

Marble steps and columns crowned in the Corinthian order, yes. Great battleship-like masses of bare concrete, no. So demands an executive order issued from the White House on December 1, 2020, shorthanded as the “beautiful buildings…

As the ball drops on New Year’s Eve, uncertainty will surely rise over the impending expiration of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Program Reauthorization Act (TRIPRA). Under the program, the federal government caps losses faced by insurers in the event of a major terrorism event. Although sunset for the law would not occur until December 31, […]

Through all of the partisan dysfunction our nation has endured in recent years, the federal budgeting process nonetheless managed to stagger along. Until October 1st. Then the U.S. Government experienced its first shutdown since 1995. The event was bracing because we have come to view partisan discord and 11th-hour negotiations as part of the federal […]

(Photo: GSA) Federal offices remain closed or short-staffed for the shutdown, but eventually copiers will hum and coffee will perk again. While imagining that future, it’s also possible to wonder how the federal workplace will look in the months and years to come. According to a video released in September from the General Services Administration (GSA), […]

After a cliffhanger Senate vote on July 31, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) has its first permanent director in 7 years. B. Todd Jones, acting director since 2011, now officially heads a…

“Extreme Leasing” is a periodic feature profiling the biggest, smallest, highest, oldest, newest and other extremes in the government lease inventory. 600 Dulany Street (center) flanked by four additional PTO office buildings. Photo: CoStar The largest GSA lease in the United States can be found in Alexandria, VA.  It is the 2,386,940 RSF home of […]

(Photo: GSA) Efforts to shrink federal and private sector real estate footprints are changing the workplace. Sharing non-dedicated spaces and adopting technologies that allow work anywhere, any time have been expected to improve employee productivity even as square footage per worker constricts. But the 2013 U.S. Workplace Survey by design and architecture firm Gensler reveals […]

Colliers International has released its 2013 Global Office Outlook noting that the world economy has seen recent headwinds from the smoldering eurozone debt crisis, slowing growth in China’s economy and the forecasted American fiscal cliff.  Yet, our firm’s overall global view of office real estate is moderately positive. Most country economies remain fragile but office […]

With more than 56,000 employees—including about 5,700 new jobs that have resulted from BRAC-related movements—Fort George G. Meade is the largest employer in Maryland, the fifth-largest employment center in the state, and has the third-largest workforce…

With the recent surge in congressional activity towards infrastructure spending it is worth noting a Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report released in June entitled Federal Investment, 1962 to 2018. That report provides a great overview of the investments the federal government has made over several decades in a variety of areas, including infrastructure. Federal investment […]

Several times on this blog I’ve observed that GSA has been engaged in a spirited game of can-kicking when it comes to leasing. Much of this has been due to intense budget distress from record deficits, rising debt, the sequester, and a series of continuing resolutions, all cast against a backdrop of hopeless political dysfunction. Without long-term clarity of […]

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”…