It’s hardly news that the largest single consumer of energy in the United States is the federal government, with its stock of 360,000 buildings and 650,000 fleet vehicles. What is surprising, though, is the extent to…
Site drawing of the “Potomac Hill Diplomatic Center” site as provided in GSA’s master plan RFI. As reported yesterday (Tuesday, February 19) by Dan Sernovitz in the Washington Business Journal, the U.S. Department of State (DOS) is “weighing a significant expansion of its office space in D.C.’s Foggy Bottom neighborhood, where it would spread into […]
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is one of the largest and most complex components of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). It also is the largest law enforcement agency in the United States, with a workforce of more than 58,000 employees, including officers and agents, agriculture specialists, aircraft pilots, trade specialists, mission support staff, and canine enforcement officers and […]
Rep. Lou Barletta (R-Pa.) held his first hearing as chairman of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure’s Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management yesterday (Wednesday, March 13). The hearing examined the proposal to relocate the headquarters of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). As we’ve already reported, the FBI and GSA have […]
GSAXCHANGE, the investment sales arm of Colliers Government Solutions, has published its Mid-Year 2015 “Government-Leased Assets” report, which includes an overview of sales activity and trends in the federal sector. Some insights from this report: Cap rates…
If less greenhouse gas pollution and more jobs and energy independence are on your holiday list, President Obama unwrapped an early gift for you. On December 5, he signed a memorandum to implement the next step in his Climate Action Plan, directing federal agencies to consume 20% of their electricity from renewable sources by 2020. The […]
There’s good news if you’re a federal employee, assuming that President Obama’s proposed 2016 budget is enacted intact: It will come with a 1.3 percent pay increase. Now, 1.3 percent isn’t a big hike, but it’s better than the 1 percent that came in FY 2015, and certainly better than the years that were leaner […]
At least three Washington, D.C., area counties have expressed interest housing a new $1.2 billion FBI headquarters complex and the nearly 12,000 jobs it will bring. On December 8, 2011, the Senate Committee on Environment and…
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…
Seattle’s Bullitt Center, built to meet the ambitious standards of the Living Building Challenge. The “roof” is comprised entirely of solar panels. LEED has been the sustainability standard for federal construction and renovation since 2003, but as discussed in an earlier post, the GSA is currently reviewing competing green building certification systems as required by […]
McNeil Island Corrections Center “Paradise is an island. So is hell,” said German author Judith Schalansky in the introduction to Atlas of Remote Islands: Fifty Islands I Have Never Set Foot on and Never Will. Today we begin a new series focusing on federally owned islands—most of which, we expect, will fall somewhere between those […]
The House Appropriations Committee voted last Wednesday (June 20, 2012) to cut about $100 million from the scandal-plagued GSA’s budget for next year. The legislation—as well as an amendment that denies bonuses to GSA officials under investigation for misconduct—was approved by the full committee with a voice vote. The approved FY 2013 Financial Services and […]
Photo: Whitehouse.gov President Barack Obama has just returned from a United Nations conference on global climate change in Paris, where he held forth for a program of legally binding agreements to reduce carbon emissions in the atmosphere. That slate is likely to face opposition at home—Congressional Republican leaders have already indicated that they will not […]
Colliers International issued this week its Top Office Metro Snapshot, the firm’s review of the 20 largest office markets in the U.S. The bad news for the federal government is that rents are now rising in all 20 markets, further indication that the window of opportunity to improve rents is closing. That said, the Washington, DC […]
