Dive Brief:

• Four prominent Washington, DC, commercial real estate firms are lining up to develop the Department of Labor’s new headquarters, the Washington Business Journal reported.
• At the end of last month, the General Services Administration (GSA), the real estate arm of the federal government, announced that it had whittled its list of potential sites to three locations not far from its current spot near the U.S. Capitol.
• From limited GSA information, the Business Journal was able to determine that those companies in the running are (or related to) Douglas Development Corp., Redbrick LMD, the Ruben Cos. and Vornado Realty Trust. The department is seeking a building of 1 million square feet or more.

Dive Insight:

The DOL’s plans to move are in the preliminary stages, and it has thus far put out feelers for a no-cost purchase or donated site, as well as a possible arrangement by which a landowner develops the new headquarters under a lease or design-build agreement. The next step for the GSA is to contract with a third party to evaluate the sites to determine if any of them are feasible. At that time, the department will determine whether to go forward with its plans.

The GSA is farther along with its search for a site for a new $2 billion FBI headquarters. If Congress approves funding for the new building, the GSA said it will announce both its site selection and contractor choice in March. The agency recently announced it would issue a request for proposals in January as part of its search for contractors. The GSA said it is still reviewing the three sites it has chosen as finalists, all within close proximity to Interstate 495 and a Metrorail station. 

One of the firms reportedly in the running for the new DOL headquarters, Vornado, also made news in September when New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that it, along with Skanska USA and Related Cos., had been selected to transform the James Farley Post Office next to New York City’s Pennsylvania Station into Moynihan Train Hall. The $1.6 billion fixed-price, design-build contract — under the joint venture name RVS — covers the train hall renovation, as well as the addition of retail and office space. The project is part of a broader Penn Station overhaul.