Tag: General Services Administration (GSA)

Op-Ed Calls for Action on Aging Federal Buildings

Posted on by abigail_grenadier

Real Estate Roundtable (RER) President and CEO Jeffrey D. DeBoer joined General Services (GSA) Administrator Edward C. Forst and JBG SMITH Chairman and CEO Matt Kelly in a Washington Times op-ed this week, urging Congress to address chronic underinvestment in the federal government’s real estate portfolio as the nation approaches its 250th anniversary. (Washington Times, May 13)

Federal Building Backlog

  • The op-ed warns that the federal government is “depriving one of its largest real estate portfolios of investment,” eroding asset value and driving up long-term costs for taxpayers. (Washington Times, May 13)
  • The authors note that federally owned buildings are deteriorating because GSA lacks timely access to resources for basic upkeep, even as agencies pay rent into the Federal Buildings Fund. (Washington Times, May 13)
  • Administrator Forst reinforced that message during a May 13 Senate Appropriations hearing on GSA’s FY2027 budget request, urging Congress to give GSA full annual access to the fund, stop redirecting it to non-GSA programs, and raise the prospectus threshold for routine repairs. (Senate Appropriations Subcommittee Hearing, May 13)
  • Administrator Forst testified that Congress has diverted $15.6 billion from the Federal Buildings Fund since 2011, while GSA’s repair backlog has increased by 408% to roughly $50 billion, leaving nearly half of its inventory in “fair” or “poor” condition. (Forst Testimony, May 13 | Legis1, May 7)

Why It Matters

  • The op-ed contrasts private-sector real estate management with a federal process that can take more than 400 days just to approve routine repairs—nearly as long as it took to build the Empire State Building. (Washington Times, May 13)
  • “Delayed spending is value destruction,” the authors write. “In the federal system, delays are built into the process.” (Washington Times, May 13)

The op-ed urges Congress to align resources, incentives, and execution authority so GSA can preserve asset value, support federal workers, and protect historic public buildings.

GSA Considers Massive Lease Reductions, Sales of Federal Properties

Posted on by Trey Jackson

This week, the General Services Administration (GSA) announced its plan to sell half of the federal properties it leases—a decision that compounds President Trump’s return-to-office mandate and Elon Musk’s “buy out” offered to federal workers. (Newsweek, Feb. 5)

Why It Matters

  • In 2024, GSA owned or leased more than 360 million square feet of space across more than 8,000 buildings nationwide, according to its most recent annual report.
  • Just as federal workers are returning to offices—prompted by a Trump Executive Order —the “cumulative damage” of canceling federal leases under a Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) led initiative “would be severe.” (GlobeSt, Jan. 30).
  • A recent Trepp analysis quantifies the impact of GSA-leased space in the Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, New York City, Washington, DC, and other metro areas where federal tenancy accounts for significant percentages of total office inventory. (Roundtable Weekly, Jan. 31)
  • If enough termination clauses are exercised, these markets could face economic disruption, with no guarantee of equivalent replacement tenants. (GlobeSt., Jan. 30)
  • Last week, a memo was sent from GSA headquarters in Washington, DC instructing regional managers to begin terminating leases on all of the roughly 7,500 federal offices nationwide. Recently appointed acting GSA administrator Stephen Ehikian also announced two of the agency’s properties, including their headquarters building at 1800 F Street, NW,  will be listed for sale in a ‘first step’ to cutting real-estate expenditure. (AP News, Feb. 4).
  • GSA recently appointed Michael Peters as commissioner of the Public Buildings Service (PBS), which will play a role in managing cost-effective workspace solutions for federal agency customers. Peters told staff in an email that non-Defense Department federal building space — both owned and leased — “should be reduced by at least 50%.”  (GlobeSt. Feb. 4)

What to Watch

  • The extent of the GSA’s leased and owned property inventory will be affected by any reductions in the federal workforce.
  • A federal judge on Thursday extended the deadline for government employees to decide on the Trump administration’s “buyout” offer, delaying the original cutoff until Monday amid uncertainty over the evolving terms of the “Fork in the Road” email. (Axios, Feb. 6)
  • As of Thursday, roughly 50,000 federal workers had accepted President Trump’s deferred resignation offer ahead of the original deadline. (Washington Post, Feb. 6 )
  • DOGE, led by Elon Musk, estimates the push for “deferred resignations” could shrink the federal workforce by 5% to 10%. (AP News, Jan. 28) (Axios, Jan. 28)
  • The administration argued the delay was unnecessary and would disrupt workforce expectations, but said it would comply with the order.

The Roundtable will continue to keep members informed about further developments as the administration’s policies evolve.