GSA to Unload 337K-SF Office Near University of Maryland
By Nick Trombola December 19, 2024 12:34 pm
reprints
Another day, another federal office building getting the ax.
The General Services Administration, which manages the federal government’s nonmilitary real estate, will sell, transfer or exchange a roughly 337,000-square-foot office property at 4700 River Road in Riverdale, Md., about a mile southeast of the University of Maryland’s College Park campus, the agency announced on Wednesday. The property is located on a 12-acre site within the university’s Discovery District research park, though is “no longer needed by the federal government,” the agency said.
Built in 1994, the building is the longtime home of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture tasked with protecting animal and plant health and welfare. The GSA purchased the building in 2015 from the Government Properties Income Trust, a real estate investment trust now known as Office Properties Income Trust, for $31 million, property records show.
It’s unclear how much space the agency occupies at the building, which it shares with Georgetown Hill Early School and Don’s Cafe. It’s also unclear where the GSA plans to move APHIS, though the agency said removing the building from its portfolio could save roughly $26 million in reinvestment costs.
“As the nation’s federal landlord, it is our responsibility to regularly evaluate and address the housing needs of our federal agencies in order to meet their space requirements and optimize the federal footprint,” Melanie Gilbert, the GSA’s acting regional administrator and commissioner for its National Capital Region, said in a statement. “Disposing of property that is no longer mission critical to federal agencies results in a more efficient use of federal assets and provides significant savings to the American taxpayer.”
The GSA has for years systematically reduced its office portfolio with the goal of improving efficiency and reducing taxpayer cost. Earlier this month, the agency targeted eight federally owned buildings totaling some 1.5 million square feet nationwide to sell, transfer or exchange, which the GSA says could save nearly $500 million over the next 10 years.
Nick Trombola can be reached at ntrombola@commercialobserver.com.
