GSA has completed two “swap-construct” exchanges of properties for construction services or assets, but the agency needs to better target its use of this kind of tool, GAO has said.
GSA is considering this kind of arrangement for the construction of a new FBI headquarters building (as well as two other exchanges), and wants to do more of these deals. However, the two previous exchanges (in both cases GSA swapped a property for parking garages) took from three to five years to finalize, underscoring the agency’s lack of experience with this kind of deal, according to GAO-14-586.
It said respondents to three solicitations that GSA is not pursuing noted concerns including the amount of investment needed in the federal properties and the lack of detail regarding GSA’s construction needs in an exchange.
A high number of market factors and final project costs make it difficult to determine whether a swap-construct exchange is equitable and GSA lacks criteria to help determine if the agency should solicit interest in these deals, GAO said.
It said the agency could miss opportunities to use swap-construct or select properties and construction projects better suited to traditional disposal and funding processes.
GSA agreed with recommendations to include, to the extent possible, details on what GSA is seeking in exchange for federal property in these solicitations and to develop criteria for determining when to solicit market interest in swap-construct exchanges.
