The government right now is, well, it’s in turmoil. That’s voiced as an opinion but it feels like actual, quantifiable fact. The United States is still fighting its way out of a deep and prolonged recession,…
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Government-Leased Sales Trend
Most investors would probably agree that cap rates for government-leased properties are trending downward. We took a quick look at sales of government-leased properties (90+% leased by the federal government) over the past decade. The trend…
GovSpeak: The “OA”
When a landlord leases space to the federal government, it is most often a U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) contracting officer who signs the lease for the United States of America. In fact, as of this…
Extreme Leasing: The Northernmost GSA Lease
View Larger Map Barrow, Alaska proudly names itself “The Farthest North American City” so it’s no surprise that it would also be home to the northernmost federal lease. If you’ve ever visited Alaska you know that…
How Prospectus Governs Build-to-Suit Rents
Over the years, we’ve observed that government-leased build-to-suit (or, in GSA parlance, “lease-construct”) projects often seem to price at or near the prospectus-approved rent cap. We decided to take a look at the trend using the FBI’s field…
Northern Virginia’s Troublesome Prospectus Rent Trend
It’s tough to be a government landlord in Northern Virginia these days, especially if your building is tenanted by a large federal tenant where the lease size is above the prospectus threshold. The reason is…
House-Approved Defense Bill Prohibits BRAC
Yesterday, the House of Representatives voted 299-120 to pass the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013 (H.R. 4310). The Act defies the President by adding $4 billion to the Administration’s requested budget and reversing…
Archiving the Federal Government
How and where do federal agencies keep their vast amounts of records? The Code of Federal Regulations authorizes the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) to establish, maintain and operate records centers for federal agencies; it…
Spotlight: U.S. Coast Guard
Which federal agency is both a military force and a law enforcement agency? The U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), one of the nation’s five armed forces and the only military organization within the Department of Homeland Security…
OMB Freezes Inventory Growth
On Friday, Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Acting Director, Jeffrey Zients, issued a memorandum effectively freezing the federal inventory of leased space. The memorandum entitled “Promoting Efficient Spending to Support Agency Operations” addressed a wide…