Public-private partnerships can help federal agencies manage and dispose of unneeded real property, but “may not mitigate previously identified challenges to disposing of real property,” GAO has said.
A report noted that federal real property management has been on GAO’s high-risk list for years, in part due to the difficulties agencies face in disposing of underused or unused property—barriers that have significantly thwarted numerous administrative and legislative attempts to spur agencies to do more to clean their houses.
Agencies use partnerships for that purpose to a limited extent, the report said, citing the planned FBI headquarters consolidation as an example. It said such partnerships typically take the form of agreements in which the ownership of the property is not transferred, but a private party manages the property for a period; exchanges in which the title of a federal property is transferred to a developer or other recipient in exchange for the construction of a new asset or completion of other construction or renovation; and sales which include certain requirements or activities be completed as a condition of the sale.
Benefits include helping agencies leverage existing assets to obtain needed improvements and facilities without the need for added funding, it said.
“However, partnerships may not mitigate other challenges such as the costs involved in accurately assessing the overall value and environmental remediation costs associated with a property or balancing the interests of numerous stakeholders. In addition, GSA officials acknowledged the additional challenge that negotiating successful public-private partnerships requires unique expertise and organizational experience with public-private partnerships and exchanges that GSA currently lacks, but is gaining,” GAO said.
