GSA's Latest RFQ Involves Federal Triangle South Parcels

The General Services Administration (GSA) issued a Request for Qualifications today to interested entities that can provide construction and related services in an “Exchange Consideration” for GSA’s headquarters building at 1800 F Street, NW and for up to three buildings at St. Elizabeths West for use by the Department of Homeland Security in exchange for the Cotton Annex and GSA’s National Capital Region Regional Office Building in Federal Triangle South. This area south of the National Mall has a concentration of GSA-owned office buildings that the agency is looking to either modernize or redevelop. 

The Cotton Annex is a nearly two-acre parcel located at 12th and C streets, across the street from GSA’s Central Heating and Refrigeration Plant and cattycorner from The Portals complex. According to testimony given by the GSA in 2012, the Cotton Annex was built in 1937 and was used by the Department of Agriculture until 2007, when the agency vacated the space. The parking lot behind the building has most recently been used by the Federal Protective Service to inspect packages and trucks that visit the Ronald Reagan Building International Trade Center downtown. The building was considered to house the National Health Museum and the National Women’s History Museum was interested in the vacant triangular parcel north of C Street. The six-story building is eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. 

The second property is the GSA Regional Office Building (ROB), a three-acre facility located at 7th and D streets, across the street from HUD headquarters and L’Enfant Plaza. It is a 942,000 square-foot, seven-story office building with one level below-grade that is currently occupied by GSA. These employees would move to the F Street, NW headquarters once those renovations are complete. The rear of the  ROB fronts on the L’Enfant commuter rail station and Reservation 113, both of which are recommended for improvements in NCPC’s Southwest Ecodistrict Initiative. The office building is not eligible for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places, so any redevelopment at the site would be easier to complete. Perhaps part of the land could be used as a “Union Station South” that could be an intermodal transit station with Metro, bus, VRE, MARC, and streetcar service? 

Don’t expect activity on these sites to happen anytime soon; however, renovations to the GSA Headquarters and the St. Elizabeths administration buildings must be completed before the parcels are conveyed to the winning developer in Quitclaim Deeds. Responses are due for Stage One of the solicitation by May 22. After that, those that qualify will be invited to a second stage of the solicitation to submit specific proposals. Then, a winner will be selected sometime in 2015. What uses do you envision for these two sites?

Image courtesy of GSA

Federal Triangle South Meeting

There was a meeting yesterday put together by the Urban Land Institute on the newly dubbed Federal Triangle South, a swath of Southwest south of the National Mall where federal government tenants have dominance and over 12,000 employees now work in office buildings that average in age between 48 and 80 years old. The boundaries of Federal Triangle South are Independence Avenue to the north, 12th Street to the west, Maryland Avenue and D Street to the south, and 6th Street to the east. The GSA owns five properties in Federal Triangle South with the largest of those being the department of Energy’s Forrestal complex at 10th Street and Independence Avenue. Back in December, the GSA issued a Request for Information (RFI) to see what interest there was in the development community for possibly redeveloping their parcels in Federal Triangle South. It was reported earlier this month that 10 development firms responded to the RFI. The GSA is exploring different disposition scenarios for the parcels, including maintaining federal ownership, a ground lease, acquisition exchange, exchange for services, or a leaseback. Federal Triangle South is part of the Southwest Ecodistrict Initiative, a long-term vision for most of the office district between the National Mall and the Southwest Freeway spearheaded by NCPC. In addition, the DC Office of Planning conducted a Small Area Plan for Maryland Avenue, which falls within the SW Ecodistrict. Here are a few tidbits I learned at the meeting:

• A Request for Proposals (RFP) will be released this summer for Federal Triangle South and a winner for phase one will be awarded by the spring of 2014.
• The Department of Energy wants to remain on Independence Avenue, but it could be located elsewhere along the street within Federal Triangle South besides its current location.
• There are approximately 4 million square feet of office space within Federal Triangle South and an additional 2 million square feet of space can be built under current zoning. More could be accommodated with PUDs.
• Republic Properties, who developed The Portals complex at 12th Street and Maryland Avenue, is considering residential for a future phase at the project instead of office. The site was zoned industrial so residential couldn’t be done there, but with the rewrite of the Comprehensive Plan that the Office of Planning is conducting, the entire Southwest Ecodistrict area will be rezoned similar to downtown, which will be high density commercial, residential, and governmental.
• Some components of the Maryland Avenue plan could take up to 30 years to complete.
• NCPC will conduct a community meeting in May (perhaps May 21) to discuss plans for 10th Street.

Image courtesy of GSA

A Couple Quick Items: Interest in Federal Triangle South, Blarney Bash

- It was reported in Capital Business yesterday that 10 developers responded to GSA's Notice of Intent for proposals to redevelop Federal Triangle South - a collection of five buildings owned by the federal government south of the National Mall. One of those buildings includes the Forrestal Complex, which is the headquarters of the Department of Energy at Independence Avenue and 10th Street. According to the article, the GSA has not released the names of the firms that responded to their NOI. This is the first concrete step made in response to the final SW Ecodistrict plan that was approved earlier this year that calls for adding more uses besides federal office space to the area south of the Mall including L'Enfant Plaza. From the article:

The Federal Triangle South responses indicated that an exchange was a viable transaction, but that infrastructure “will be a significant challenge and will require the coordination of many stakeholders,”according to the GSA. To move forward, the agency would likely issue a more targeted request for a development partner.

 
- George and Mason Inn are hosting Blarney Bash on Saturday, March 16 at Kastles Stadium at The Wharf. Blarney Bash is a 5-hour open bar event and will feature live music, bocce, corn hole, food trucks, and more from 3:30 - 9pm.