Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com
There’s one problem with the plan to buy a new headquarters for the FBI: The federal government might not be able to afford it, reports Federal Times.
Under consideration is trading the current headquarters building in Southwest Washington and swap it for another property.
“The government probably will offer the site in exchange for a new FBI building, rather than as an outright sale,” Bob Peck, former public buildings commissioner at GSA, told the Federal Times.
The current building, however, likely would be leveled to make way for something new because most developers don’t consider the headquarters to be worthy of renovation, the Federal Times reported.
A 2011 estimate by the Government Services Administration placed the cost of a new FBI headquarters at $1.5 billion, compared to $850 million to $1.1 billion to rehab the current building, which still wouldn’t meet security needs, according to the Federal Times.
Selling the current headquarters, the GAO predicts, would bring in $400 million to $600 million.
