Magazine

Moving Melee

February 1, 2000

uring his first year in office, Q. Todd Dickinson has proved to be a kinder, gentler PTO commissioner than his old boss Bruce Lehman, who was notorious for his sharp temper and cutthroat negotiating tactics. But like Lehman, Dickinson doesn't mince words when discussing the PTO's planned relocation to a new office complex in Alexandria, Va., or the lobbying campaign to derail the move by the agency's landlord, the Charles E. Smith Cos. of Arlington, Va.

The Smith Cos. lobbying team has "distorted" and "made cause celebre" out of the move, Dickinson says. He insists the move would give the PTO better facilities at a better price. A government-funded study last year estimated the PTO would save up to $72 million over 20 years by moving out of the Smith buildings into new facilities built specifically for the agency. The Crystal City campus no longer meets government building regulations, Dickinson says, and its 18 offices are inconveniently sprawled over a mile and a half.

If all goes according to plan, Dickinson expects that in 2003, PTO will vacate its campus for a new five-building, 2-million-square-foot complex near Alexandria's King Street Metro station. In June, PTO announced its intent to award the 20-year, $1.3 billion lease to LCOR Inc. of Berwyn, Pa.

In late July, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia dismissed a Smith Cos. lawsuit alleging bidding for the new lease was rigged in favor of developers willing to build completely new facilities. The court decision marked the latest in a series of defeats for the Smith Cos.

In 1998, Smith Cos. lobbying did spark a Senate Environment and Public Works Committee hearing, at which the company and the National Taxpayers Union challenged the move as a boondoggle and alleged that the government had underestimated the costs. But an amendment by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., to delay the move failed last year, and the project has kept its congressional backing.

Last May, the Patent Office Professional Association, the union representing patent examiners, withdrew its opposition to the move after Dickinson agreed to provide examiners the same amount of office space in the new buildings as they currently enjoy.

Nonetheless, at least one more challenge lies ahead. Another Smith Cos. lawsuit filed in a District of Columbia court challenges the project's environmental impact statement. The Smith Cos., as well as several Alexandria residents, charge PTO failed to follow government regulations in assessing the building project's impact on traffic congestion.

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