Buildings may not be the first thing brought to mind when thinking about the National Park Service (NPS). From Maine’s Acadia National Park to Volcanoes National Park in Hawaii, NPS protects approximately 84.4 million acres of…
Category: Agencies
Many Winners in Federal Building Challenge
Competitors vie for neither lucrative NBA contracts nor sizable office bracket pools in GSA’s March Madness-style Federal Building Challenge. An annual competition between sustainable buildings around the country, the contest awards the winner only bragging rights…
Spotlight: OSHA
Workplace injuries resulted in 4,383 worker deaths in 2012, the second lowest total since the census began in 1992. The leading causes, known as the “fatal four,” were falling, being struck by an object, electrocution, and…
Spotlight: CBER
The sprawling Food and Drug Administration (FDA) campus in Silver Spring, Maryland, will soon be welcoming another major regulatory component of the agency: the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER). Beginning about May 1, moving vans…
Alternative Approaches to Funding for Federal Real Property
A recent bounce in GSA’s funds from Congress has modestly improved the agency’s ability to reduce the federal footprint and shift more toward owned space, as we discussed earlier this month. But the slight budget relief…
Better Buildings Bill Update
Thirty-two U.S. Senators stayed up all night on March 10, speaking non-stop to stir Congressional colleagues into action on climate change. Overnight talking points emphasized state-by-state economic damage such as crop losses from California droughts, coastal…
The Bounceback: GSA’s Budget Returns to “Normal” (and what that means for lessors)
We’ve often said on this blog that you need only look at GSA’s budget as the bellwether for leasing demand. In recent years we’ve noted that budget reductions imposed by Congress have put GSA in a…
Spotlight: Federal Bureau of Prisons
A highly-efficient HVAC system, locally sourced stone and recycled construction waste are just a few of the sustainable features at a new federal building complex in Hazelton, West Virginia. An innovative laundry water recycling system is…
Spotlight: Executive Office for Immigration Review
President Obama has said that immigration reform is the most important domestic policy agenda of his second term, and hope springs that Congress will pass legislation acceptable to both parties. But in the meantime, it’s worthwhile…
National Targeting Center to Consolidate
Two days after planting a car bomb in Times Square, Faisal Shahzad boarded a plane for Dubai at JFK International Airport. But a routine post-boarding check discovered Shahzad on the no-fly list, and US Customs and…