GSA did not comply with its own internal space management procedures for releasing space it no longer occupied, said auditors. Image: luchunyu/Shutterstock.com
By: FEDweek StaffGSA, the agency that centrally manages working space for other agencies, “is not effectively managing” its own space to reflect changes in occupancy, an inspector general report has said.
GSA’s own real estate portfolio or both owned and leased space includes its headquarters in Washington, D.C. plus 10 regional office buildings and 500 field locations but auditors “found that GSA’s ability to manage its internal space is impaired because it lacks the accurate and reliable data necessary to determine and monitor its occupancy,” the report said.
“GSA does not have a uniform methodology for collecting accurate and reliable occupancy data. Instead, GSA’s regions collect this information using multiple data sources. Each of these data sources have limitations that impair the accuracy of the data they collect,” it said.
Also, although GSA has established a space utilization target—135 usable square feet per employee at sites with at least 50 assigned employees, if all are present—“it has not developed a comprehensive plan to manage its space and meet the target.” It said that as of September 2023, when telework rates were still at a high rate, GSA’s regional office buildings on average had 47 percent excess space.
Auditors also “found that GSA did not comply with its own internal space management procedures for releasing space it no longer occupied,” said the report. It cited as an example space the GSA leased in the Interior Department headquarters at a cost of more than $300,000 a year that was largely vacant or actually occupied by Interior employees; in a site visit with the auditors, GSA officials “were unsure of the exact location” of the space.
GSA has come under criticism for years from Congress for not disposing of underused office space within the 1,600 federally owned buildings and 6,700 leased spaces it oversees for other agencies. That criticism increased following a 2023 GAO report finding that 17 of the 24 agencies studied were using 25 percent or less of their headquarters office space. That picture likely would be very different today, however, in light of the Trump administration’s return-to-office initiative.
GSA meanwhile has been cutting jobs in some of its functions and its headquarters building was among those in a list of federal buildings in list of buildings it briefly publicly posted as candidates for sale. The agency meanwhile stands to gain staff, however, under a more recent Trump administration initiative, to further consolidate there the purchase of commonly use goods and services for other agencies.
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