GSA Administrator Robin Carnahan said that the agency would dispose of eight federal buildings Wednesday, helping generate an estimated $475 million in cost savings over the next decade. Kevin Dietsch / Getty Images
GSA begins process to reduce government’s footprint by 1.5 million square feet
The agency began the process to offload eight federal facilities across as many states as part of the effort to “right-size” the federal government’s physical footprint following telework’s expansion during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The General Services Administration announced Wednesday that it has begun the process to reduce the federal government’s physical footprint by 1.5 million square feet by disposing of properties across eight states.
The offloading of the eight facilities, which could be transferred, exchanged or sold to a federal, state or local government organization or the private sector as part of the disposition process, would amount to an estimated $475 million in cost savings over the next decade.
GSA, which handles much of the federal government’s space utilization and building maintenance functions, has been working to reduce agencies’ physical footprint in recent years, following the spike in telework usage across government amid the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
Though agencies have since pulled back from the “maximum telework” posture amid the peak of the pandemic, most still operate under a hybrid work environment for the roughly half of the federal workforce whose work is portable enough to allow for the workplace flexibility.
“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 in a statement. “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.”
Among the buildings up for disposal are the Montpelier Federal Building in Montpelier, Vt.; the Brickell Plaza Building in Miami; the Charles A. Halleck Federal Building in Lafayette, Ind., the Bismarck Federal Building in Bismarck, N.D.; the James V. Hansen Federal Building in Ogden, Utah; the Gus J. Solomon U.S. Courthouse in Portland, Ore.; the Richard B. Anderson Federal Building in Port Angeles, Wash.; and the 301 7th Street SW Regional Office Building in Washington, D.C.
Low occupancy rates at federal facilities have been a thorn in the side of Republican lawmakers skeptical of telework’s effectiveness as a measure to improve worker productivity and reduce costs. But GSA’s process could complicate the Trump administration’s plans to drastically cut telework, as laid out by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy as part of their planned government efficiency commission.
Between the properties announced Wednesday and the 26 other federal buildings currently in the disposition process, GSA said its recent work would amount to a footprint reduction of more than 6 million square feet, and an estimated cost avoidance of more than $1.8 billion over the next 10 years.
“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 Elliot Doomes, GSA’s public buildings commissioner. “GSA’s robust process includes ongoing dialogue with stakeholders to help maximize the benefits of these buildings’ futures, resulting in stronger communities.”