The Bureau of Labor Statistics is headed out of downtown D.C.
The General Services Administration, the federal government’s civilian landlord, has awarded a $173 million construction contract to Whiting-Turner Contracting Co. to renovate 4600 Silver Hill Road in the Suitland Federal Center for the BLS to relocate there. The BLS, which is part of the Department of Labor, will join the building’s present tenants, including the U.S. Census Bureau and the Bureau of Economic Analysis. The GSA said the renovation will support an additional 1,800 employees at the center. It’s unclear exactly how many BLS workers will relocate.
The BLS is today headquartered in about 500,000 usable square feet at the Postal Square Building, 2 Massachusetts Ave. NE, but it will reduce to 300,000 usable square feet in the new space, which will be its sole office. The U.S. Postal Service owns the 950,000-square-foot Massachusetts Avenue building, but the government effectively rents from itself, with the GSA leasing 845,000 square feet for $26.4 million a year, or $31.18 per square foot. The GSA said it expects the move would save $16 million a year in rental costs compared with leasing the space in a private building.
