The Federal Communications Commission says it won't move into an office development in Washington's southwest quadrant unless building security is improved.
FCC officials sent the General Services Administration a letter Monday requesting that several security adjustments be made to the Portals complex, an office building located at 445 12 St. SW.
"We will not accept the Portals space assignment unless and until the conditions are totally satisfied," FCC spokeswoman Liz Rose said.
In the letter, FCC Managing Director Andrew S. Fishel urged Nelson Alcalde, GSA regional office director, not to accept the lease for the Portals complex.
Rose said the current lease "allows unimpeded public entry" through the courtyard and the main entrance to the building. In addition, she said, the FCC wants more security measures added to the building's parking garage.
Rose also said the FCC wants visitors to be required to sign in, go through metal detectors and have their belongings X-rayed, as is the process at many federal buildings.
A GSA spokesman described the building lease debate as an "ongoing cooperative type thing."
The FCC, which is currently headquartered in several buildings near 19th and M streets NW in Washington, began searching for a new home in 1988. GSA selected the Portals site, but the FCC objected and GSA canceled the lease. In 1994, a federal appeals court sided with the building's owner and ruled the cancellation illegal. The FCC has since resisted moving.
The FCC is now scheduled to move in May.
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