GSA makes long-awaited move to consolidate FBI headquarters

The General Services Administration on Monday issued calls to Washington-area developers for proposals to redevelop the office complex at Federal Triangle South and to create a consolidated headquarters for the FBI, which has long outgrown the J. Edgar Hoover Building on Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest.

The requests for information were presented as part of the Obama administration’s efforts to save money by reducing federally-owned real estate.

“GSA is aggressively working to find new and innovative ways to save money and increase efficiency,” GSA acting Administrator Dan Tangherlini said in a press release. “An exchange of the FBI headquarters not only saves money, but it also promotes efficiency by consolidating staff into a single state-of-the-art facility, shrinking the federal real estate footprint and eliminating multiple leases. With Federal Triangle South, we will contribute to a more sustainable neighborhood by creating opportunities for development, while at the same time saving taxpayer dollars by redeveloping outdated and underutilized properties.”

GSA is seeking detailed proposals from the commercial real estate industry for both the projects. Economic planners for local jurisdictions in suburban Maryland and Virginia have had their eye on attracting the new FBI building. Studies by the Government Accountability Office and others have long portrayed the current FBI building as outdated and overcrowded.

Federal planners hope to align the Federal Triangle South complex with the National Capital Planning Commission’s broader “sustainable community,” or Southwest EcoDistrict. The buildings include the Agriculture Department’s Cotton Annex, the Energy Department’s Forrestal Complex, the Federal Aviation Administration’s Orville and Wilbur Wright Buildings and GSA’s Regional Office Building.

The GSA notices call for responses by Feb. 4.