By Katie Howard
Federal News Radio

The General Services Administration is shopping ideas on how to revamp a large group of federal buildings in the Federal Triangle South area near Southwest Washington’s L’Enfant Plaza, and is looking to commercial Realtors for guidance. The agency is also brainstorming how to consolidate the current Federal Bureau of Investigation’s headquarters.

GSA has issued two Requests for Information (RFIs) for both development projects in the Washington, D.C., area — part of the Obama administration’s effort to reduce federal real estate holdings.

The first RFI concerns the buildings within the Federal Triangle South area including the Agriculture Department’s Cotton Annex, Energy Department’s Forrestal Complex, Federal Aviation Administration’s Orville and Wilbur Wright Buildings, and GSA’s Regional Office Building.

GSA said it is aligning its vision for Federal Triangle South with the National Capital Planning Commission’s Southwest EcoDistrict, which is a sustainable community that stretches from the National Mall down to the Southwest Waterfront.

The GSA project also seeks ways to reduce costs and overhaul any outdated and underutilized assets of a number of federal buildings, develop green facilities and encourage the mixed-use and improved infrastructure of government facilities.

The second RFI seeks responses from the development community on exchanging the old J. Edgar Hoover Building built in 1974 and current home of the FBI for a new, space-efficient headquarters. The building, which sits on a 2.4-million-square-foot facility, is overcrowded, according to GSA.

“GSA is aggressively working to find new and innovative ways to save money and increase efficiency,” said GSA Acting Administrator Dan Tangherlini. “An exchange of the FBI headquarters not only saves money, but it also promotes efficiency by consolidating staff into a single state-of-the-art facility, shrinking the federal real estate footprint and eliminating multiple leases.”

Tangherlini added that these requests will contribute to a “more sustainable neighborhood by creating opportunities for development, while at the same time saving taxpayer dollars by redeveloping outdated and underutilized properties.”

The entire National Capital Region, including D.C., Maryland and Virginia, is under consideration for the agency’s potentially new location. In turn, GSA points out that the J. Edgar Hoover Building, steps from the White House, is located in a prime location for other companies. The building sits on 6.7 acres of land and is zoned for office, retail, housing, mixed-use and public buildings.

All interested parties for both RFIs should submit responses by Feb. 4.

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