The Capitol is seen in the background from the parking lot at Union Station. The Public Buildings Reform Board put the median occupancy rate of many headquarters buildings at only 30 percent of pre-pandemic levels. Image: Ken Cedeno/UPI/Shutterstock
By: FEDweek StaffIn a report to Congress that likely will add further pressure to increase onsite work by federal employees and/or close or consolidate offices, a study commission has said that “the status quo of nearly empty federal buildings is not financially or politically sustainable.”
“Prior to the pandemic, the federal portfolio needed significant consolidation, modernization, and improvement. To report that the pandemic has greatly intensified existing problems is an understatement,” says a report from the Public Buildings Reform Board.
“The post-pandemic telework policies of the federal government have resulted in record-low utilization of the existing federal real estate portfolio. As a result, sharp declines in demand for federal office space and rising costs have pushed unnecessary spending to unprecedented levels,” it says.
The report follows enactment of language in a budget measure last month requiring the administration to report to Congress by late June on the average percentages of employees present in the office by agency, a description of each agency’s effort to reduce its office footprint if their average office space utilization rate is less than 60 percent, and the cost of total office space, average office space utilization rate, and estimated cost of underutilized space.
Several other bills meanwhile are pending on Capitol Hill, including one that would trigger a mandatory process for disposing of space if average utilization fell below 60 percent for more than a year.
The board was created under a 2016 law designed to spur action on the longstanding issue of excess space through a base closings commission-like process to shortcut the complex and lengthy standard processes for selling it off. Its new report is an interim look at work it is conducting toward making a second round of recommendations later this year.
As part of that work, the board followed up on a GAO report from last summer focusing on headquarters buildings in the national capital area that found that through the first three months of last year, 17 of 24 headquarters buildings were using less than 25 percent of their capacity on average. The GAO divided the 24 into four groups, with the average among the lowest six agencies only 9 percent and the average among the highest six 35 percent.
Based on cell phone usage rates—which it said is a standard industry practice for measuring building occupancy—the board put the median occupancy rate in most of those same buildings over the first nine months of last year at only 30 percent of pre-pandemic levels. That was in line with the GAO report’s findings.
It further concluded that occupancy rates averaged only 12 percent, ranging from the low single digits to a maximum of 26 percent in those buildings.
“The extremely low building utilization rates documented by our review mean the increased costs of the federal office inventory are devoted toward a mere fraction of the number of people the buildings were designed to support . . . As a result, the amount of money being spent per person per year is at absurdly high levels,” it said.
“In addition to high costs, other problems with low utilization rates include environmental and health impacts. The per person carbon emissions from heating and cooling nearly empty buildings, not to mention energy costs, are indefensible,” it added.
Since the GAO and the board conducted their work, many agencies have increased their levels of onsite work at headquarters and other buildings, after prodding by both Congress and the Biden administration. However, there has been no public accounting of the impact.
Deferred Resignation Periods about to End for Many; Overall 12% Drop
Retirement Surge Likely as Deferred Resignation Periods End
Senate Rejects Bills to Defer Shutdown; Familiar Process Lies Just Ahead
Senate Bill Would Override Trump Orders against Unions
Report Describes Impact of Shutdown on Employees, Agencies
TSP Adds Detail to Upcoming Roth Conversion Feature
See also,
How to Handle Taxes Owed on TSP Roth Conversions? Use a Ladder
The Best Ages for Federal Employees to Retire
Best States to Retire for Federal Retirees: 2025
