While bills have been offered in Congress to move many headquarters operations out of the national capital area, the HUD move would likely be to the Virginia suburbs. Image: Andriy Blokhin/Shutterstock.com
By: FEDweek StaffThe GSA and HUD have cited the condition of the latter’s headquarters building as factors in their decision to move operations in what would be the largest shift of employees undertaken to date in the Trump administration.
“There are serious concerns with the current state of HUD’s headquarters—from mold to asbestos and leaks to maintenance failures. Many of these risks do not have a long-term solution and will needlessly and irresponsibly continue to absorb taxpayer dollars,” HUD secretary Scott Turner said in a statement.
Such problems—largely attributed to years of deferred maintenance—have been cited in numerous reports from the GSA IG and others, in turn becoming part of the argument by administration officials and some Republicans in Congress for relocations. A GSA official said in a statement that the move would save “$500 million in deferred maintenance and $56 million a year as well.”
HUD’s Weaver Building, where about 2,700 employees work, had been on a GSA list of properties for “accelerated disposal.” The statement said the agency is “working to evaluate the ongoing use of the Weaver Building and engage with the private sector to dispose of the building as quickly and efficiently as possible.”
That could turn into a test case for GSA’s ability to dispose of other unneeded properties, given the condition of the building and the excess of commercial office space. While the building has a prime location in Washington, it also has been criticized—along with the HHS and FBI headquarters, with similar architectural styles—as among the least attractive buildings in the city.
While bills have been offered in Congress to move many headquarters operations out of the national capital area, the HUD move—to occur at a date not specified—would not be far, only to a building in the close-in Virginia suburbs now housing some 1,800 National Science Foundation employees.
The destination of those employees who would be moved out is uncertain; the GSA said it would work to find “space that allows them to fulfill their mission.”
The AFGE union, which has a local there, said those employees “are being displaced with no plan, no communication, and no respect,” adding that many of them “were forced to relocate to Northern Virginia with very short notice and at great personal expense when return to work orders were given.”
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