Institutional and commercial organizations nationwide are struggling to rightsize their facilities portfolio and take steps to actually achieve those goals. The federal government is no different.
Now, a new report spotlights the actions and challenges involved in this process.
The General Services Administration (GSA) — the federal government’s landlord — and its component office, the Public Buildings Service, recently released an update on efforts to reorganize the Public Building Service to address high-risk issues identified by GAO of underused buildings, real property data reliability and building condition.
Federal real property management has been on GAO’s High-Risk List since 2003. GAO has previously reported that better management is needed to effectively dispose of underused buildings, collect reliable real property data, and improve the condition of federal buildings. Federal real property management has faced longstanding challenges.
Underused buildings. Many federal agencies are tenants in buildings managed by the Buildings Service, and they have struggled to determine how much space they need to fulfill their missions. GSA and others have taken steps to address underused buildings in recent years. For example, in March 2025, GSA launched Space Match. Potential benefits of the program include: helping agencies find available space as employees return to in-person work; optimizing the use of underused space; and creating a collaborative work environment for agencies.
Data reliability. Without reliable data, supporting real property management and decision making is difficult. GAO has identified problems with the reliability of federal real property data since GAO first designated management of federal real property as a High-Risk area in 2003.
Building condition. In the 2025 High-Risk Update, GAO added building condition as a new concern for federal real property due to large increases in the cost of addressing deferred maintenance in federal buildings. This backlog of maintenance and repair needs has more than doubled in estimated cost from fiscal years 2017 through 2024, going from $170 billion to $370 billion. The GAO also found in 2023 that the spaces of federal agencies, many of which are GSA tenants, are not well configured to meet modern office needs. If agencies continue to operate in poorly configured office buildings, they will continue to underuse space, spending unnecessary operating funds.
Dan Hounsell is senior editor for the facilities market. He has more than 30 years of experience writing about facilities maintenance, engineering and management.?
