Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., said the move would help the government’s cost-savings efforts by “taking FTC out of leased space and putting it in owned space.” Cliff Owen/AP
Lawmaker's Latest Plan for FTC Headquarters: Move to Commerce Building for a 'Better View'
Mica continues battle to expand art gallery space over trade commission objections.
For half a decade, a Florida House member has pressed to convert the Federal Trade Commission’s headquarters on Washington’s Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest into new exhibit space for the nearby National Gallery of Art.
That quest—long resisted by FTC commissioners from both parties--took a new turn on Tuesday when Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., quizzed a General Services Administration official about a new possibility: Move the FTC from its longtime home in the New Deal-era Apex building to a vacant portion of the Commerce Department’s Herbert Hoover building headquarters, currently under renovation.
“The Commerce Building is next to White House, and would offer a better view for all the commissioners,” Mica told a House Transportation and Infrastructure hearing on GSA’s office space management, during which he praised the work of Public Buildings Commissioner Norman Dong. “I think it’ll be a solution we’ll all be happy about.”
In his noncommittal response, Dong said, “We’re having great conversations with the FTC on space needs.”
FTC spokesman Frank Dorman declined comment to Government Executive.
In an interview, Mica said, “GSA has been reviewing possible relocation sites, and I didn’t realize had one of the best in the Commerce Department space. It’s enough to house most or all of the FTC in the future” and would help the government’s cost-savings efforts by “taking FTC out of leased space and putting it in owned space.”
The FTC recently consolidated some satellite offices in the Constitution Center in Southwest Washington, including its Bureau of Competition, Bureau of Consumer Protection, and Records and Filing Office. The timing of an FTC move to Commerce, Mica said, would coincide with the expiration of GSA’s 10-year lease on Constitution Center.
Mica acknowledged that the plan is “sort of preliminary” and that GSA has several suggestions for the FTC. Mica added that he is “not ready to talk to the FTC—it would probably happen under a new administration.”
The $1 billion Commerce headquarters renovation, which began in 2008, will create an environmentally friendly, energy-efficient, modern building with GSA’s recommended open-office space layout.