The U.S. General Services Administration has issued a Request for Qualifications seeking developers who can provide construction and development services in exchange for the GSA Regional Office Building and Cotton Annex, both located in Southwest Washington, D.C.
These services would be used to help GSA consolidate about 1,500 regional staff from the Regional Office Building into the GSA headquarters located at 1800 F St., NW and renovate up to three historic buildings at St. Elizabeths campus in Southeast Washington.
This action will allow GSA to leverage the value of outdated and underperforming properties to provide the government with efficient modern office space to better serve our current needs.
Last year, the agency issued a Request for Information (RFI), soliciting innovative ideas from the development community to help the agency gather possible development scenarios that provide cost savings, space, efficiency, and modernization solutions for federal agencies located at Federal Triangle South.
“The Federal Triangle South project is an opportunity to reexamine how the federal government uses these buildings and reassess how this space fits into the surrounding community,” said GSA Administrator Dan Tangherlini. “This action will facilitate the city’s efforts to transform this precinct that is dominated by federal office buildings, into a mixed-use neighborhood that will both provide for a modern workplace for federal employees and create a vibrant, diverse, and special community of its own.”
GSA’s action supports the vision for Federal Triangle South identified by the National Capital Planning Commission’s Southwest EcoDistrict -- a sustainable community stretching from the National Mall to the Southwest Waterfront.
The vision includes a number of federal buildings and seeks to reduce costs by overhauling these outdated and underperforming assets, developing state-of-the-art green facilities, and encouraging mixed-use and improved infrastructure. The deadline for RFQ questions is April 17, 2014. Responses are due by May 22, 2014. The RFQ is now posted on Fed Biz Opps.
Reducing the Federal Footprint & Increasing Efficiency
The Obama Administration has set aggressive goals for using federal real estate assets more efficiently, and GSA has increased its efforts to help federal agencies identify underutilized properties and move them into the disposal process.
The Federal Triangle South RFQ is part of GSA’s ongoing effort to get underperforming federal facilities, such as the Cotton Annex, off of the government's books, while creating the greatest possible value for taxpayers. It would also allow GSA to consolidate its employees in the National Capitol Region into one building, the 1800 F St. NW headquarters. This would not only cut costs and reduce energy consumption, but also maximize workplace efficiencies by bringing employees into GSA’s Total Workplace program.
(http://www.gsa.gov/portal/content/189811)
Related Stories
Multifamily Housing | Jun 3, 2024
Grassroots groups becoming a force in housing advocacy
A growing movement of grassroots organizing to support new housing construction is having an impact in city halls across the country. Fed up with high housing costs and the commonly hostile reception to new housing proposals, advocacy groups have sprung up in many communities to attend public meetings to speak in support of developments.
MFPRO+ News | Jun 3, 2024
New York’s office to residential conversion program draws interest from 64 owners
New York City’s Office Conversion Accelerator Program has been contacted by the owners of 64 commercial buildings interested in converting their properties to residential use.
MFPRO+ News | Jun 3, 2024
Seattle mayor wants to scale back energy code to spur more housing construction
Seattle’s mayor recently proposed that the city scale back a scheduled revamping of its building energy code to help boost housing production. The proposal would halt an update to the city’s multifamily and commercial building energy code that is scheduled to take effect later this year.
Resiliency | Jun 3, 2024
Houston’s buyout program has prevented flood damage but many more homes at risk
Recent flooding in Houston has increased focus on a 30-year-old program to buy out some of the area’s most vulnerable homes. Storms dropped 23 inches of rain on parts of southeast Texas, leading to thousands of homes being flooded in low-lying neighborhoods around Houston.
Healthcare Facilities | May 28, 2024
Healthcare design: How to improve the parking experience for patients and families
Parking is likely a patient’s—and their families—first and last touch with a healthcare facility. As such, the arrival and departure parking experience can have a profound impact on their experience with the healthcare facility, writes Beth Bryan, PE, PTOE, PTP, STP2, Principal, Project Manager, Walter P Moore.
MFPRO+ News | May 28, 2024
ENERGY STAR NextGen Certification for New Homes and Apartments launched
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently launched ENERGY STAR NextGen Certified Homes and Apartments, a voluntary certification program for new residential buildings. The program will increase national energy and emissions savings by accelerating the building industry’s adoption of advanced, energy-efficient technologies, according to an EPA news release.
Women in Design+Construction | May 28, 2024
Commerce Department launches Million Women in Construction Community Pledge
The U.S. Department of Commerce launched its Million Women in Construction Community Pledge this month to boost the ranks of women in construction companies. Federal investments are creating a construction boom that is increasing job opportunities for construction and trade workers.
HVAC | May 28, 2024
Department of Energy unveils resources for deploying heat pumps in commercial buildings
To accelerate adoption of heat pump technology in commercial buildings, the U.S. Department of Energy is offering resources and guidance for stakeholders. DOE aims to help commercial building owners and operators reduce greenhouse gas emissions and operating costs by increasing the adoption of existing and emerging heat pump technologies.
MFPRO+ News | May 24, 2024
Austin, Texas, outlaws windowless bedrooms
Austin, Texas will no longer allow developers to build windowless bedrooms. For at least two decades, the city had permitted developers to build thousands of windowless bedrooms.
Resiliency | May 24, 2024
As temperatures underground rise, so do risks to commercial buildings
Heat created by underground structures is increasing the risk of damage to buildings, recent studies have found. Basements, train tunnels, sewers, and other underground systems are making the ground around them warmer, which causes soil, sand, clay and silt to shift, settle, contract, and expand.