The U.S. government leases space all across the nation–including in some pretty remote locations. Yet, the bulk of federal government tenancy can be found in just 20 markets. The map above shows the 20 largest markets for U.S.…
Category: Leases
Renewal Rents Usually Increase
There are few investors of GSA-leased properties who have not engaged in hand-wringing over renewal rents, even when buying properties years in advance of the lease expiration date. Normally when presented with the question of whether the…
Notable Transactions of 2015
Though the federal lease inventory continued to shrink in 2015, there was plenty of action, especially in the Washington, DC area where most of the big federal tenants reside. Here is a selection of the most notable transaction activity…
GSA’s Leasing Capacity
In a recent Washington Business Journal article entitled “Time is running out for the feds to take advantage of Washington’s tenant market” (*paywall*), the reporter noted that GSA will struggle to take full advantage of the current tenant’s market…
Non-Cancelable GSA Leases Are Now Even Scarcer
Despite increasing congressional pressure to improve the number of long, firm-term leases, GSA and its tenant agencies have proven that they are not yet serious about weaning themselves from their addiction to termination rights. As measured from the leasing peak…
GSA Occupancy of New Buildings Has Dwindled
Long-time participants in the federal sector have clearly sensed that the volume of new lease-construct (i.e. build-to-suit) projects has declined substantially in recent years and that the government has been engaged in a spirited game of kick-the-can, leading to…
Notes From GSA’s Annual “Lease Turnover Analysis”
At the end of each fiscal year GSA produces an analysis of its leasing activity that provides an interesting glimpse into the federal real estate sector. This spreadsheet report, the Lease Turnover Analysis, seeks to address many…
Common Lease Expiration Dates
Did you sense a mild “thump” today? A slight disturbance in The Force? Today, December 31st, more GSA leases expire than any other day of the year. It got me thinking why that is, and whether there is any…
Another Big Reason for the Pile-Up
https://public.tableau.com/views/LeaseExpirationsTrend2000-2014/Dashboard3?:embed=y&:display_count=yes (The graph above is interactive, pull the slider located above the column chart) We have published a few articles on this blog about the stunning pile-up of lease expirations in GSA’s national lease inventory and the…
Lease Patterns, and What They Tell Us
Looking at remaining term of federal leases relative to building age, an interesting pattern emerges: the leases appear in “waves”. The scattergraph above shows office buildings that are at least 85% leased by federal tenants. We’ve plotted every building…