As the efforts of the General Services Administration (GSA) — the federal government’s landlord — to rightsize its sprawling facilities portfolio continue with the sale of a range of facilities, the process has been picking up speed. Most of these efforts have involved the sales of facilities and the end of leases of smaller buildings nationwide, but now the GSA has put its largest facility on the block.
The federal government recently announced its plans to sell the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) flagship office hub on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., as part of an effort to save nearly $1.6 billion in maintenance expenses, according to CoStar News. GSA made public its plans to sell the building and relocate its employees to other locations across the country before the end of the year.
Even after the government has invested heavily in capital improvements, the building still faces about $1.6 billion in delinquent maintenance, according to the GSA.
The flagship USDA property was constructed in the 1930s and, along with the neighboring Jamie L. Whitten Federal Building facing the National Mall, makes up the department's headquarters. USDA officials did not provide details as to where employees currently housed in the building will go as part of an ongoing agency reorganization.
The department released plans last year to relocate more than half of its D.C.-area employees to USDA hubs in North Carolina, Missouri, Indiana, Colorado and Utah.
Yet that workforce is far smaller compared to just a year ago, as thousands of USDA employees have taken buyouts and left the department throughout the administration's ongoing effort to reshape and reduce the size and footprint of the federal government.
Dan Hounsell is senior editor for the facilities market. He has more than 30 years of experience writing about facilities maintenance, engineering and management.?
