U.S. General Services Administration
GSA Maintains Building Status During COVID-19 Pandemic
The Greater Southwest Region is no stranger to emergency response related to disasters. In fact, in years past we’ve responded to tornadoes, hurricanes and unfortunately, even terrorism. However, the current COVID-19 pandemic presented a new global challenge for all of us.
One of GSA’s key priorities is a commitment to transparency and timely communications with our stakeholders. Similar to other responses to emergencies, this meant notifying employees, tenants and the general public about the status of GSA’s federally owned and leased properties. The new challenge however was the broadness of the emergency response across the country.
Based on our previous experience with emergency response, GSA immediately set up a Project Management Office (PMO) with regional and national representatives focused on keeping our stakeholders up to date on the status of our facilities across the region. The PMO includes representatives from nearly every GSA division including Facility Management, Leasing, Acquisition, Portfolio, and Strategic Communications.
Considering the Greater Southwest Region maintains an inventory of approximately 17M owned and 18M leased Rentable Square Feet (RSF), or a total of 35M RSF in Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana, the PMO had and continues to maintain a heavy lift that is not limited to:
- Reviewing daily building status reports
- Working with local governments to become familiar with the ever changing state, county and city guidelines and restrictions
- Verifying scopes of work for cleaning contracts to ensure they align with the minimum Center for Disease Control guidelines
- Ensuring GSA has the appropriate funds to pay for the cleaning services
- Preparing consistent communications to customers related to building closures and confirmed COVID-19 cases, and
- Assisting agencies with determinations for working in GSA controlled space or telework options
To review a listing of building status’ and updates visit GSA’s Facilities Status & Information Page.
We are all in this together and can all make a difference. Wash your hands, follow local guidelines to curb local spread and check on those who may need additional care or assistance.