As we’re reporting in today’s Federal Times, dozens of federal building projects are on hold because of the worsening credit crisis. The problem is especially severe for so-called build-to-suit lease projects, which are new facilities built to agency specifications and owned by private developers, then leased back to the government. The General Services Administration has nearly four dozen such projects on standby right now, some dating back five years. Hours after we wrapped up this week’s issue on Friday, the General Services Administration provided us an updated list of the projects that are on hold. Most of the buildings are…
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David Safavian, the former Bush administration official and friend of Jack Abramoff, has been convicted for the second time on charges he lied to investigators about his relationship with the corrupt lobbyist. A jury convicted him Friday on one count of obstructing justice and three counts of making false statements to federal investigators, according to the Associated Press. Safavian accepted an extravagant golf trip to Scotland from Abramoff while Safavian was chief of staff at the General Services Administration. Although an ethics officer gave Safavian approval to go on the trip, he failed to tell the ethics officer –Â and later…
Federal building managers already are buzzing over President-elect Barack Obama’s plan, announced in his weekend radio address, to make public buildings more energy efficient. Obama said he would launch a “massive effort” to upgrade federal buildings with new heating systems and more efficient light bulbs to help jumpstart the economy. Additional details will be released in coming weeks, with the hope that Congress will pass the plan immediately after reconvening in January. Agencies already are under intense pressure to meet existing energy reduction mandates, so the announcement that more requirements are forthcoming was a “curveball,” said Mark Ewing, who manages energy consumption…
Attention government travelers, buyers and drivers: You may be immersed in the presidential transition (and have plans to flee work for the holiday weekend), but don’t forget this weekend is another transition…to the new government purchase, travel and fleet charge cards. At 11:59 p.m. Nov. 29 your old SmartPay cards will be useless, so be sure to have the new cards at the ready. That’s what David Shea, director of the General Services Administration’s SmartPay 2 program, tells us here at FedLine. Shea has these tips for feds who may be working this holiday weekend and need to use their…
Plans for a consolidated home for the newest Cabinet agency, the Homeland Security Department, are laid out in impressive detail in a series of documents that were submitted to federal planning officials earlier this week. Here are some highlights: The master plan calls for 4.5 million square feet of new and existing office space, plus another 1.5 million square feet of parking. Most of the development will be located on the west campus of the former St. Elizabeths mental hospital, a 176-acre site in southeast Washington that predates the Civil War. However, about 750,000 square feet of office space and another 270,000 square…