President Biden’s Fiscal Year 2025 Budget Proposes Investments in Washington, DC Buildings

March 12, 2024

WASHINGTON - The Biden-Harris Administration recently announced that the President’s Budget for Fiscal Year 2025 includes funding for improvements to federal buildings in Washington, DC and Maryland. Following historic progress made since the President took office—with nearly 15 million jobs created and inflation down two-thirds—the Budget protects and builds on this progress by lowering costs for working families, investing in America and the American people, cutting wasteful spending, and reducing the deficit.

The Budget makes critical, targeted investments for the American people that will promote greater prosperity and economic growth for decades to come. The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) is requesting funds in the FY25 Budget to right size the federal footprint and save billions in taxpayer dollars, strengthen and improve digital services across the government including responsible use of Artificial Intelligence (AI), and accelerate sustainability through electric vehicle adoption. 

“The President’s Budget reflects critical, targeted investments that will accelerate GSA’s efforts to right-size the real estate portfolio, ensure the secure and effective use of technology across government, and lead the way toward a clean transportation future,” said Administrator Robin Carnahan. “These sound investments will yield big returns for taxpayers – from reducing real estate leasing costs to making smart, efficient use of technology across government.” 

The Budget includes $425 million for a new real estate Optimization Program to allow GSA to reconfigure and renovate federal buildings to better utilize space and to expedite the disposition of unneeded federal facilities. This would help save taxpayers millions by avoiding expensive leases while making better use of existing federal space. This program would also complement two key legislative proposals included in the President’s budget: ensuring GSA has full access to the revenues and collections in the Federal Buildings Fund annually and increasing the prospectus threshold from $3.9 million to $10 million. The budget would also build on GSA’s recent announcement to initiate the disposition of 23 properties representing a potential reduction of 3.5 million square feet and more than $1 billion in cost avoidance over 10 years.

In Washington, DC and Maryland, the President’s Budget request for GSA includes the following consolidation, restoration and building upgrade projects to provide safe and reliable facility systems:

• Federal Office Building - 7th and D | Washington DC | $88.23 million -  This project  includes system upgrades and is in the second phase of a renovation and modernization to provide long-term housing for several DHS components. The modernization of the building, which is currently vacant, allows DHS to reduce their overall footprint by more than 460,000 sq ft.  The completion of both phases also provides an annual lease cost avoidance of over $32M, reducing taxpayer burden.
• William Jefferson Clinton Complex | Washington DC | $77.9 million - This project includes system upgrades and upgrades to replace and improve the conveyance systems.
• Robert F. Kennedy Federal Building  | Washington DC | $21.9 million - This project includes system upgrades to the passenger and freight elevators.
• Orville Wright Federal Building | Washington DC | $28.9 million - Includes system upgrades to replace the existing fire alarm and communication systems with a new, modernized fire alarm and emergency communication system.
• Stewart Lee Udall Federal Building | Washington DC | $7.7 million - Exterior repairs and installation of passive and active fall protection systems on the roof at multiple locations on the 2nd, 3rd, and 6th floors of the building.
• Howard T. Markey National Courts Complex | Washington DC | $11 million - System upgrades to replace the electrical switchgear and related equipment that have exceeded their useful life.
• Robert C. Weaver Federal Building | Washington DC | $21.7 million - This project includes exterior repairs to provide waterproofing, plumbing, and architectural and structural repairs in the parking garage, loading dock, the basement and sub-basement areas, four wings of the building, and the lower plaza areas.
• Washington National Records Center | Maryland | $17.6 million - Includes system upgrades to replace the building switchgear and related equipment which are original to the building construction and have well exceeded their useful life.  

“These are timely investments that improve the safety and operational efficiency of GSA buildings and allow for federal agencies occupying these buildings to serve the public - now and for generations to come,” said Melanie Gilbert, Regional Commissioner and Acting Regional Administrator for the National Capital Region. “By making smart investments in our portfolio, this Budget supports GSA’s work to right-size and optimize the federal footprint in ways that advance the region’s economic development goals and save taxpayer dollars.”

For more information on the President’s FY 2025 Budget, please visit: https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/. The GSA Budget request will be posted at www.gsa.gov/cj.

GSA’s National Capital Region provides centralized procurement for the federal government, by managing its real estate portfolio, products and services throughout the National Capital Region. GSA’s mission is to deliver value and savings in real estate, acquisition, technology, and other mission-support services across government. 

For more information, visit: www.gsa.gov/r11 and follow us on X.

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About GSA: GSA provides centralized procurement and shared services for the federal government, managing a nationwide real estate portfolio of nearly 370 million rentable square feet, overseeing about $100 billion in products and services via federal contracts, and delivering technology services that serve millions of people across dozens of federal agencies. GSA’s mission is to deliver the best customer experience and value in real estate, acquisition, and technology services to the government and the American people. For more information, visit GSA.gov and follow us at @USGSA.