President Obama’s Fiscal Year 2017 Proposed Budget Includes Over $10 Billion for Federal Building Fund

The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) is the federal government’s real estate manager and director of the government’s real estate investment strategies. The Agency’s FY 2017 funding requests, submitted along with the President’s proposed budget in February, include requests for over $1 billion worth of construction projects in and around the Washington, D.C. area. In addition, GSA is requesting the following funds for infrastructure in Pennsylvania and the region at large:

1. Boyers, Pennsylvania: $31,200,000 for design and related services for the construction of a new federally owned facility of approximately 462,000 gross square feet to provide a long-term housing solution for agencies currently leasing an underground mine location within the area.

2. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: $52,300,000 for Phase II of a two phase repair and alteration project for the Federal Building (Green Building), located in downtown Philadelphia. The project involves the realignment and reconfiguration of tenant space, and multiple building system upgrades/replacements.

3. Cleveland, Ohio: $15,524,000 for a repair and alteration project to complete, repair, and expand the plaza system at the U.S. Courthouse located in downtown Cleveland. The structural steel that supports the plaza is exposed to the elements and has been since the original construction.

(Here is a complete list of GSA’s proposed infrastructure projects in its FY2017 request.) These anticipated projects, coupled with rumors GSA has started the process of implementing much-needed upgrades to fedbizopps.com (the single government point-of-entry for federal government procurement opportunities), suggests the prospect of federal government projects may become more attractive to companies in the region within the year to come.

Although the appropriations bills ultimately passed by Congress this fall may or may not mirror these infrastructure plans, GSA’s proposal provides insight into its development priorities. We will track Congress’ final appropriations bills and continue providing updates on this blog.