WASHINGTON, DC—Taking the local broker community by surprise, the General Services Administration announced on Monday evening that it is seeking a new facility to house the US Labor Department. The alternative, it said in its announcement, would be a "costly renovation" of the 1.8 million square foot Frances Perkins Building -- a 41-year-old building that is in need of modern heating, electrical, plumbing and elevator systems, according to the GSA.
But it doesn't appear as though GSA is seeking a new building to lease and indeed, there are no viable candidates in the District that are large enough for the Labor Department's needs. (The law requires that Cabinet-level departments are located within the District of Columbia.) So the GSA has issued a Notice of Intent that it is "exploring an exchange of the current headquarters and the underlying approximately 10.5-acre parcel."
It has also issued a Request for Expressions of Interest for "a site that would accommodate approximately 850,000 square feet to 1.4 million rentable square feet, a space range that would offer several possible solutions for DOL employees."
It is somewhat analogous to what GSA is doing with the FBI headquarters, Kurt Stout, Executive Vice President of Government Solutions with Colliers International, tells GlobeSt.com.
"GSA would like a new headquarters for the Labor Department and rather than ask Congress for an appropriation to construct a new building or to lease one, it is first exploring whether it can use its exchange authority to defray the costs," Stout said.
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Erika Morphy
Erika Morphy has been writing about commercial real estate at GlobeSt.com for more than ten years, covering the capital markets, the Mid-Atlantic region and national topics. She's a nerd so favorite examples of the former include accounting standards, Basel III and what Congress is brewing.
