U.S. General Services Administration
GSA helps agencies save big on leasing costs
Finding ways to help federal agency partners save money on their rental rates is a key priority for GSA. Recently, the Great Lakes Region helped two federal agencies save more than $6.5 million on leasing costs.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s flagship office in Michigan has unique laboratory needs. Finding a new location for the agency could have been a difficult and costly task. GSA worked with FDA to understand the agency’s needs and negotiate a new lease agreement with significant savings.
The new lease saves the government and taxpayers nearly $1.7 million on what would have been the remaining two years of agency’s old lease, and locks in this competitive rate for a new 15-year lease at this specialized space. Additionally, GSA was able to reduce the cost of the remaining tenant improvement repayment from the current lease by $292,000.
Another cost-saving effort involved the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Since the mid-1970s, NHTSA has housed its research, development, test, and evaluation laboratory in central Ohio. The agency, under its own leasing authority, had multiple operation and maintenance contracts in addition to the lease. They asked GSA to solicit for a new lease to simplify many of these actions and allow them to focus on their mission.
With the facility in a remote location, GSA did not have comparable data when initial lease negotiations began. GSA was able to negotiate a new lease for NHTSA at the current location, bringing together many of the previous operational contracts into one lease. Additionally, GSA secured a lower rate from the initial offer, reducing the potential payments by $4.8 million over the lease’s 15-year firm term.
By taking the time to understand the needs of both FDA and NHTSA and learning the local real estate markets, GSA was able to create greater efficiencies and realize significant savings for these federal agencies.