Frustrated by the Federal Communications Commission's reluctance to relocate to a new building, the General Services Administration has canceled the lease on the agency's downtown Washington headquarters and ordered it to pack up and move to a new complex across town.
In a letter sent last week to FCC Chairman William Kennard, GSA Administrator David Barram said his agency would take back the $17.6 million it had granted to the FCC to cover the costs of relocation. Instead, GSA itself will arrange for the agency to move into a complex known as the Portals II building in southwest Washington this fall.
"We cannot allow this situation to continue and must move forward with FCC's relocation without further delay," Barram wrote.
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 its original lease. In 1994, a federal appeals court sided with the building's owner and ruled the cancellation illegal.
In January 1996, GSA signed a new 20-year, $420 million lease for the offices. The building was still under construction and wasn't completed until recently.
The FCC has continued to resist the move, saying the complex in unsafe and allows unimpeded entry.
In their most recent delaying tactic in May, FCC officials asked the GSA for $2 million to $6 million worth of floor-plan changes to the Portals II building.
GSA estimates the unoccupied building has cost taxpayers $1.7 million a month since GSA signed the lease on the facility a year ago.
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