FCC Could Move to Site Near Union Station
The FCC will move to a new location if the General Services Administration wins a claim brought against it by the commission's current landlord, said a motion filed in the case by Trammell Crow, a Washington, D.C., real estate development company. Trammell Crow received a letter from the GSA naming it the "apparent successful offeror" to be the FCC's new landlord, but the lease won't be awarded until the bid protest by current FCC landlord Republic Properties is resolved, said Trammell Crow in a motion to intervene in the Republic Properties case filed in U.S. Federal Claims Court. If Trammell Crow wins the lease, the FCC would move to Trammell Crow's Sentinel Square development north of Union Station, reported the Washington Business Journal. The commission's lease at the Portals will expire in October 2017.
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Though the complaint and most other filings in the court proceeding are sealed, Republic's previous protests about the bid process concerned FCC requirements for a new HQ that it said are too restrictive, and a dispute with the GSA over whether the Portals is in a flood plain. The GAO rejected all of Republic's protests in March, and Republic subsequently took the matter to court. Trammell Crow filed to intervene after Republic amended its complaint to challenge the award to Trammell Crow, said the motion. As the “putative awardee” the court should permit Trammell Crow to intervene in this action,” the motion said. Trammell Crow, the FCC and Republic didn't comment.
The FCC requests that were disputed by Republic are a requirement for an 11-1/2-foot ceiling on the first floor, and a dual-power source for emergencies, said the GSA opinion on the bid protest. The high ceilings will permit “press cameras on podiums to provide viewing angles of a speaker’s face over the heads of other participants during live coverage,” the opinion said.
The Sentinel Square location is a “Class A office space” with a total of 34.5 million square feet of development and proximity to Union Station, said Trammell Crow's website. The FCC sought between 394,000 and 473,000 square feet, according to GSA documents. Trammell Crow touted Sentinel Square as being especially attractive to the GSA. “Sentinel Square has a high level of appeal to the GSA as it presents an opportunity for GSA to consolidate occupying entities into fully government occupied leased facilities, thereby providing security, technologic and operating efficiencies not otherwise available in the current roster of leased facilities,” said Trammell Crow's website.
Attorneys and FCC officials have told us an FCC relocation would not be greatly disruptive as long as the commission remains within Washington. Though many communications law firms used to seek offices near the FCC, they have focused mainly on being close to Congress since the commission moved to the Portals.