GSA Head Says Federal Government Has 'Place To Play' In Southwest D.C. Redevelopment

The head of the General Services Administration signaled that the U.S. government could take an active role in the reimagining of the 250 acres between the National Mall and D.C.’s southwest waterfront.

The government has been moving quickly to sell federally owned real estate in the city's southwest federal corridor. So far, it has put the properties to market one by one without instituting any guidance or plan on how they should be redeveloped.

GSA Administrator Ed Forst's remarks on Tuesday were some of the first indications that the agency will influence the remade neighborhood.

“Every good project requires the first move to happen,” Forst said at Bisnow’s Federal Office and Southwest D.C. Summit. “I think the federal government has a real place to play here to be the first mover in terms of what can be brought to life.”

While he didn't elaborate on how specifically the government would make that first move, the idea of it being involved as a catalyst is significant.

Under Forst’s leadership this year, the GSA offloaded the nearly 1M SF Regional Office Building at Seventh and D streets SW to Dalian Development, as well as the L-shaped Liberty Loan building on the Tidal Basin to Northern Virginia-based investor Satvik Raj. 

The government's approach, selling the properties to the highest bidder, has raised concerns among public and private leaders in D.C.’s urban development arena, who worry about the loss of government control of some of the nation’s most important real estate.

But in his remarks Tuesday, Forst said that while the agency is moving quickly, it’s also committed to collaborating with various stakeholders to bring a collectively beneficial vision.

“We have to be urgent, intelligent about our urgency, collaborative about the urgency, not just look for unanimity, because unanimity means you never get anything done, but I think we have to be good listeners to everybody and move forward,” he said. 

Forst also brought up the history of the federal government's transfer of 53 acres along D.C.'s southeast waterfront, known as The Yards, to developer Forrest City as a potential model for the redevelopment of the southwest corridor. 

“It's pretty spectacular. Three thousand apartments. There's restaurants. There's parks. There's a vibrancy to it, and that was something desolate there,” he said of The Yards. “We have a great example of success of the government and the private sector really collaborating on something generational.”

After Forst's remarks, several panelists expressed enthusiasm about his comments regarding the federal government's plans to be involved.

“It was so exciting to hear Administrator Forst talk about the Southeast Federal Center model and using that and being sort of a model that can be done again. That's huge,” said Diane Sullivan, who serves on the National Capital Planning Commission. “We wanted to hear that two years ago, and I couldn't be more excited to be hearing that now.”

Dan Mathews, who serves on a congressionally designated board tasked with downsizing the federal footprint, said he “heard a sense of urgency and sort of commitment” from the GSA administrator that he “hadn't quite heard before.”

“I really like the way you highlighted the Southeast Federal Center. We've been talking about that for a long time, about how you can transact now and redevelop over time.”

Mathews pointed to multiple tools the federal government already has available that could jump-start redevelopment of the corridor. He said those options include the authority to transfer federal land to a private entity — like it used for The Yards in the early 2000s — and the ability to do sale-leasebacks and “leases in furtherance of conveyance,” whereby the government executes a temporary lease ahead of disposal.

“So we could accelerate this much faster with some of these tools,” Mathews said. “And I thought what I heard today was they're getting a lot more aggressive. That's good. So there's some consensus here that everybody wants to play together.”

UPDATE, JULY 21, 4:30 P.M. ET: This story was updated with additional commentary from the event.