GSA accelerates efforts to right-size federal real estate with plans for 1.5 million square feet in reductions and more than $475 million in cost avoidance to taxpayers

December 04, 2024

GSA announces first step in disposition process for eight properties in its federal real estate portfolio

WASHINGTON -  Today, the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) announced the decision to begin the disposition process for eight properties, accelerating its efforts to right-size and modernize the federal buildings portfolio.

Today’s announcement represents a potential reduction of 1.5 million square feet and more than $475 million in estimated cost avoidance over 10 years. This is the first step in GSA’s disposal process, under which the properties could be transferred, exchanged, or sold to a federal, state, or local entity or the public after robust input and engagement with stakeholders. Combined with the disposition projects announced last year and three additional properties announced earlier this year, including Joe L. Evins Federal Building in Oak Ridge, TN, Liberty Loan in Washington, D.C. and Peachtree Summit Federal Building in Atlanta, GA, the successful disposition of these buildings will reduce GSA’s inventory by over 6 million square feet and provide a cost avoidance of over $1.8 billion over 10 years. Where feasible, these properties could be redeveloped into housing, fulfilling a key pillar of the Biden-Harris Administration’s Housing Supply Action Plan.

GSA continues to work to optimize the federal portfolio. Their efforts would be further accelerated if GSA had full access to the Federal Buildings Fund, which would allow GSA to further reduce its reliance on costly leases and move underutilized and underperforming assets out of the federal portfolio. These combined efforts would help increase occupancy in federally owned assets, reduce the overall federal footprint, and provide significant taxpayer savings.

“GSA is committed to right-sizing and optimizing the federal buildings portfolio in ways that benefit local communities while saving taxpayer dollars,” said GSA Administrator Robin Carnahan. “The actions we’re announcing today demonstrate our commitment to accelerating the disposition of federal buildings that don’t use taxpayer dollars effectively – and the opportunity to do even more with full access to the Federal Buildings Fund.”

The eight properties that will begin the disposition process are:

• Montpelier Federal Building - Montpelier, VT.
• Brickell Plaza Building - Miami, FL.
• Charles A. Halleck Federal Building - Lafayette, IN.
• Bismark Federal Building - Bismarck, ND.
• James V. Hansen Federal Building - Ogden, UT.
• Gus J. Solomon U.S. Courthouse - Portland, OR.
• Richard B. Anderson Federal Building - Port Angeles, WA.
• Federal Office Building, 301 7th Street SW - Washington, D.C. 

Today’s announcement builds on GSA’s record of driving efficiencies and savings throughout its portfolio. Over the past decade, GSA has helped to reduce the footprint of tenant agencies housed in office buildings under GSA’s custody and control by disposing of almost 11 million square feet of federally owned space and reducing almost 18 million square feet of leased space.

GSA also assists other landholding agencies in divesting their real property portfolios. Since 2015, over 1,000 properties have been divested by GSA on behalf of the executive branch, reducing over 24 million square feet of federally owned space. These property dispositions have returned over $2 billion to American taxpayers.    

“Moving underutilized and underperforming assets out of the building portfolio allows us to tailor a smaller federal footprint with modern and optimized buildings, which will lead to better buildings,” said GSA’s Public Buildings Commissioner Elliot Doomes. “GSA’s robust process includes ongoing dialogue with stakeholders to help maximize the benefits of these buildings’ futures, resulting in stronger communities.”

GSA will work closely with customer agencies whose spaces are affected by disposition decisions to plan and budget for relocation. These decisions aim to ensure agency workforces have safe, comfortable, and efficient workspaces that empower employees, advance agency missions, and use taxpayer dollars responsibly.

Stakeholder engagement is a key component of the disposition process. GSA will engage with local communities and officials to keep them informed throughout the process and to better understand their economic development and employment goals and initiatives. These conversations will inform GSA’s process and help ensure these properties are placed back into productive reuse.

GSA is continuing its efforts to identify and market surplus federal properties that represent the best opportunities for residential development, including continuing to convene developers, municipalities, and other stakeholders to learn about opportunities and challenges.

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About GSA: GSA provides centralized procurement and shared services for the federal government, managing a nationwide real estate portfolio of nearly 370 million rentable square feet, overseeing over $100 billion in products and services via federal contracts, and delivering technology services that serve millions of people across dozens of federal agencies. GSA’s mission is to deliver the best customer experience and value in real estate, acquisition, and technology services to the government and the American people. For more information, visit GSA.gov and follow us at @USGSA.