The General Services Administration released its preliminary environmental impact study on the future HQ of the FBI last week, revealing the drawbacks and advantages to each of the three short-listed sites in the 'burbs. The study was supposed to have been released in the spring.

The early takeaways from the study (the report and public hearing info is online here) are that no site has the obvious edge so far. The FBI needs a 2.5M SF space—not including a significant parking structure—to house 11,000 employees and 400 support staffers. The facility also requires a 60k SF visitors center and 125k SF utility substation.

Whichever of the Greenbelt site (owned by WMATA and the state of Maryland, rendered above), the Landover site (owned by Lerner Enterprises) or the Springfield site (owned by GSA) is chosen, it would require infrastructure improvements, environmental abatements and other changes before the GSA can buy the property.

The Landover site, sketched above, is farthest from a Metro station, but the proposal would include a shuttle bus for the two-mile journey to the Largo Town Center stop. The GSA already owns the land in Springfield, but warehouse facilities are being used there and the FBI could trigger another public solicitation if it moves there.

The Greenbelt building would be 17 stories tall; Landover, at the site of the former Landover Mall, would be 11 stories tall; and Springfield would be 12 stories. Whichever site is chosen, the GSA would hand over the J. Edgar Hoover building on Pennsylvania Avenue in exchange for the HQ development. However, it's estimated the land on which the Hoover building sits isn't enough to balance out the deal. The GSA has asked Congress for money to make it a fair trade.

In two months, after public hearings in each of the development areas, the final EIS will be released, and the developer is expected to be announced next year.