News Releases
GSA To Offer Choice in Real Estate Leasing to Federal AgenciesGSA #9333 July 12, 1996 On Columbus Day, the General Services Administration will offer federal agencies the option of leasing office space to meet their own needs. The GSA announcement follows through on a recommendation of the Clinton Administration's National Performance Review and comes as part of the new Can't Beat GSA Leasing Program, a wholesale overhaul of GSA's leasing services designed to make government leasing faster, cheaper and more compatible with private sector real estate practices. Since its establishment in 1949, GSA has been the government's sole agent for leasing private office space. GSA currently leases 170 million square feet of work space (the size of almost 50 Pentagon buildings) for 100 federal agencies at an annual cost of $2.2 billion. David J. Barram, Acting Administrator of the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), and Robert A. Peck, Commissioner of GSA's Public Buildings Service (PBS) made the announcement following the Can't Beat GSA Leasing Conference in Chicago, July 9-11, in which all of GSA's 700+ leasing specialists and managers learned streamlined leasing practices and committed themselves to faster, more cost-effective service. Barram said that the new leasing program will improve GSA's responsiveness to clients, reduce the time it takes to lease space, and increase savings. The new leasing program gives PBS employees the tools and training needed to compete successfully against anyone. GSA already has a tremendous competitive advantage going in its favor, Peck said. Based on its 50 years experience, GSA knows and understands the requirements of federal acquisition statutes and regulations, the needs of Federal agencies and the economics of the private real estate markets throughout the country. With a nationwide network of professionally staffed offices, GSA is able to provide customized solutions and competitive market rents. Further, he said, GSA has experience with Federal workplace initiatives such as child care and telecommuting and provides the full range of real estate services, including space planning and lease administration. In the end, Peck said, when agencies are given the choice, he expects most will stay with GSA. But the new program, and the challenge of competition, will help GSA's specialists focus better on timeliness and bottom line results. Under the new program, employees are freed from cumbersome procedures, complicated forms, and duplicative management reviews. (See page three for examples.) Taken together, the reforms will make GSA lease negotiations faster and more flexible, while allowing the government to leverage its size in the marketplace more effectively. To further improve operations, later this year new computer software, used by a major corporate real estate activity, will be installed for use by GSA leasing personnel. The Can't Beat GSA Leasing initiative builds on lessons learned in a number of GSA Reinvention Labs under the National Performance Review. According to Peck, these practices have already resulted in cutting in half the average time it takes GSA to obtain leased space and have resulted in savings of more than $300 million dollars. Barram said Can't Beat GSA Leasing will become a major part of GSA's contribution to the fulfillment of President Clinton's promise to make our government work better and cost less.
� Use of three-step leasing practice
Last Reviewed 8/22/2005
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