As the Northeastern United States begins what looks to be a prolonged and expensive recovery from the damage wrought by Hurricane Sandy earlier this week (beginning on Sunday, October 29), we thought this an appropriate time…
Category: DHS
Plum Island for Sale?
Expatriat British novelist and travel writer Lawrence Durrell, writing in Reflections on a Marine Venus, described a “rare but by no means unknown affliction of spirit” that he dubbed “islomania.” “These are people,” he stated, “who…
Highwoods Pares Its Government Leased Property Portfolio
Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE: HIW) has announced that it has sold three government leased properties encompassing 553,000 square feet for $86.5 million or $156.42 PRSF. While the pricing may appear somewhat low on a PRSF basis,…
Spotlight: USCIS
Which federal agency has been part of five different departments? The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) began in 1891 as the Office of Superintendent of Immigration in the Treasury Department. In 1903, the by-then renamed…
Extreme Leasing: The Nation’s Most Expensive Office Lease
When we searched for the GSA’s most expensive office lease (measured in rent per square foot) we expected to find it in New York, or Boston, or maybe San Francisco or L.A., but we never expected…
Want to be a Lighthouse Keeper?
“I want to marry a lighthouse keeper And keep him company I want to marry a lighthouse keeper And live by the side of the sea…” For more than a decade, ever since the passage of…
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…
DCBIA Meeting Review
This morning the District of Columbia Building Industry Association (DCBIA) hosted its seminar entitled “GSA Downsizing – A Perfect Storm Looming”, consisting of a panel of government officials and private sector professionals. We were there and…
GSA’s Largest Tenants
One of the more intriguing charts in GSA’s recent Congressional Justification is its “Summary of Billed Inventory” or, to put it another way, its largest tenants. It’s not a universally understood fact that GSA is the…
Spotlight: CBP
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is one of the largest and most complex components of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). It also is the largest law enforcement agency in the United States, with a workforce of…