Elliot Doomes Has Overseen Much of the Feds’ Office Downsizing

The General Services Administration, which manages the federal government’s nonmilitary real estate portfolio, has for over 10 years systematically and significantly reduced its office portfolio. This includes both owned and leased space, all in a concerted effort to improve efficiency and save taxpayer dollars. 

The results of that effort, even within just the past six months, are legion: plans to sell a 337,000-square-foot property near the University of Maryland; the consolidation of the departments of State and Housing and Urban Development; the cancellation of a $1.4 billion contract to build a new headquarters for the Securities and Exchange Commission; and a move to sell, transfer or exchange eight other buildings across the U.S. with a combined footprint of 1.5 million square feet. 

(The GSA said in early December that it had since 2015 divested more than 1,000 properties equaling some 24 million square feet, saving over $2 billion in taxpayer funds.)

Presiding over much of that effort is Elliot Doomes, the GSA’s outgoing Public Buildings Service (PBS) Commissioner. Doomes was appointed to lead the PBS by President Joe Biden in late 2023 after nearly 20 years of public buildings-related work in Congress, though Doomes recently tendered his resignation ahead of the official end of the Biden administration on Jan. 20. 

Commercial Observer sat down with Doomes on Wednesday to discuss the GSA’s office downsizing policy, what the agency has planned for 2025, and his legacy after more than 20 years in public service. 

This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

Commercial Observer: Tell me the thinking behind this downsizing policy. How did it start? Are there particular types of properties the policy is aimed at?

Elliot Doomes: We have to go back to about 2012 during the Obama administration, when there was an active effort called “Reduce the Footprint” and “Freeze the Footprint.” There was an Office of Management and Budget memo that essentially said, “We’re going to reduce the amount of space that the government uses.” The first Trump administration kept it up when he took office after 2016, and there was also a 2016 law that created the Public Buildings Reform Board, so this is an effort that has been going for well over a decade. 

As the government has evolved, we’ve realized we can provide more efficient, smaller and more flexible workspaces, and it’s been a concerted effort across administrations. You can also point to the COVID-19 pandemic, when the federal government really began to embrace telework. We saw that happen not only across the Public Building Service but also across other federal agencies, where they leaned into this kind of flexibility and this new idea of work, where PBS is reaching out to agencies and asking, “What’s your core mission? How do you work?” 

With some agencies it’s more collaborative, and they are constantly in conference rooms. Some agencies have a ton of lawyers, and they need privacy as they discuss sensitive matters. So we have to think through all of those different ideas as agencies come to us.

Are there particular types of properties the downsizing policy is aimed at? How are buildings selected or identified to be cut?

The GSA’s National Portfolio Plan (NPP) allows us to look at how we can manage our assets. Roughly half of our portfolio is owned, half leased, with a total of about 360 million square feet. Through the NPP, we can make decisions about which assets we’re going to retain, which we will dispose of, and which ones we’re going to modernize. 

When we look at a building, we look at its vacancy rate, what the demand is from other federal agencies in the area. We look at how much deferred liability was within the building. For example, what’s the condition of the roof? What’s the condition of the HVAC? And then we look at the amount of rent the building is bringing in, versus how much it costs to operate the building. 

In the last 14 months, 35 assets have entered the disposition process as a result of that NPP analysis. When we dispose of buildings that we don’t need, then we can focus our limited funds on the buildings we think we do need, modernize them, and make them better and provide better working solutions. Because, ultimately, my goal as PBS commissioner is to drive down the operating cost of the federal government and to provide space in the most efficient way possible.

So it sounds like it’s a couple of different factors. There’s this ongoing policy about improving efficiency, shedding buildings that maybe don’t necessarily fit the government’s need anymore, and renovating buildings that need to be renovated, rather than having a specific goal of cutting X amount of space.

There are also some broader rubrics that have evolved over the years. I’ve been working on these issues for many years before I became the PBS commissioner — there was a time when, maybe 15 years ago, it was very common to acquire 400 square feet per person for an agency. And then it shifted down to 200 square feet per person. And now I can tell you, unequivocally, that it’s not unusual for an agency to say they need about 100 square feet per person. 

So as we continue to work with agencies [on their buildings], it’s important to figure out the all-in utilization rate of a building. If you have 5,000 people assigned to a building, maybe you only need 500,000 square feet for those people if you have 100 square feet per person including common space, office space, the entryway and so on. But each agency is different, and there is no one size fits all. 

Are there any specific goals in mind for 2025?

We’ve got properties all across the country on our disposal list. We’re working with the agencies to empty out those buildings, and we want to increase our lease optimization. Congress directed us, in a couple of bills that passed right at the end of the year, to dispose of the Wilbur J. Cohen Building in Downtown Washington, D.C., within two years after the current agency moves out and the last person turns the lights off. 

We’ve had a ton of success over the last 10 years here in Washington, D.C. We’ve disposed of the Cotton Annex. We’re planning to dispose of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, which is moving to a new facility in the suburbs. We’d like to get rid of the Nebraska Avenue complex. We got rid of the West Heating Plant in Georgetown. So we’re just always looking for opportunities to get rid of space that we don’t need, space that is either underutilized or outlived its ability to do well.

President-elect Donald Trump takes office Monday. Do you expect there to be any changes to the downsizing policy, pursuing it any more or less aggressively? Or any differences in how the agency will manage the government’s real estate portfolio in general?

I don’t expect that PBS’s core mission will change, which is to provide efficient real estate solutions. I wish the best for the next administration in continuing to provide terrific services to the other parts of the federal government.

On a more personal note, you were appointed PBS commissioner in late 2023 after nearly 20 years of public buildings-related work, but have officially submitted your letter of resignation, which will take effect Monday. What do you think your legacy at the GSA will be?

It has been an honor of a lifetime to serve in President Biden’s administration. … I’m hoping my legacy will be that I really cared about the Public Buildings Service and its 5,600 employees, and that I shared the same passion and enthusiasm for their work, as a political appointee, that I know many of the career employees have. The GSA has hundreds of employees, if not more, that have been here for 30 years, people that really love their work and really are dedicated to providing a great service to the American taxpayer.

I spent the first 18 years of my career on Capitol Hill working on PBS issues. I’ve always thought this was the most interesting work in the world — how buildings define communities, how buildings bring economic activity, from the construction of the buildings to the operation and maintenance of the buildings, to the puzzle piece that is the portfolio, to the acquisitions aspect of it. I think all of that stuff is so fun and interesting, and I want people to feel like they had a boss that cared just as much as they did, and that PBS was not a way station to another higher position in the government. 

I also think we did some terrific climate change work with the Inflation Reduction Act and the bipartisan infrastructure bill. I think we’ve taken a huge step forward in greening our portfolio. There’s a business case for it to say we’ve driven down operational costs, but I also think we’ve made a dent on [sustainability of the built environment in general]. Because when the GSA goes out to the market and says, “We’re only going to lease green buildings, and this is going to be a requirement for us,” people change the way they build and operate their buildings. Forty percent of all emissions come from the built environment — heating and cooling the buildings, materials that go into buildings. 

So, by us having an impact on buildings writ large, I really feel like part of my legacy will be that I helped to stem the tide on climate change. I think that’s important work and work that I’m proud of.

Nick Trombola can be reached at ntrombola@commercialobserver.com.