FCC's HQ Move Embroiled in Conflicts of Interest, Landlord Says
FCC plans for a new headquarters are entangled in a web of possible conflicts of interest, according to partially redacted documents filed in U.S. Court of Federal Claims in the agency's current landlord's challenge of the bid award process for commissioners' new home (see 1606080069). Current landlord Parcel 49C, an affiliate of Republic Properties, is arguing that there was a conflict of interest in the General Service Administration's selection of a new FCC headquarters in Sentinel Square, near North Capitol and L Sts., NE in Washington's NoMa district. Parcel 49C said CBRE, which GSA contracted to broker the deal, owns Trammell Crow, which owns Sentinel Square, and the relationship wasn't properly disclosed. The matter is further complicated because CBRE also has represented Parcel 49C, though that's not part of the landlord's challenge.
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The documents are part of responses to motions for judgment on the administrative record filed by multiple parties in the case, including Trammell Crow and the government. Most of the filings are under seal, and the partially redacted versions of some of them were released Wednesday only after being reviewed by the other parties in the case. In the same filings, Parcel 49C says it's now impossible for the new building to be ready by the October 2017 end of its current lease at the Portals, since the contract is unlikely to be awarded in time. GSA, Trammell Crow, CBRE, Parcel 49C and the FCC wouldn't comment Thursday.
Though documents filed with the court said CBRE did disclose its relationship with Parcel 49C and Trammell Crow, Parcel 49C said CBRE didn't properly identify the “self-evaluation conflict” stemming from CBRE's being the entity that evaluated bids. Since CBRE owns Trammell Crow, CRBE in effect evaluated its own bid, Parcel 49C's filing said. “CBRE and Trammell Crow remained silent about this prohibited conflict even though they must have known early in the procurement that a textbook self-evaluation conflict existed.”
A GSA investigation of the matter found that no conflict of interest issues, said a report filed in the case. “The common ownership interest between CBRE and Trammell Crow Company likely does not create a conflict of interest,” said a partially redacted report from a GSA official who investigated the matter. GSA's investigation was “fatally incomplete” and conducted “after GSA had already selected Trammell Crow for award,” Parcel 49C said. Trammel Crow and the GSA have a Friday deadline to respond to Parcel 49C.
Parcel 49C 's filings also challenge the way the GSA calculated the cost to the government of moving to a new building, and FCC requirements for its new building, which include higher ceilings and a backup power source. Those requirements “lack a rational basis,” Parcel 49C said.
Regardless of how the case shakes out, the FCC new home base won't be ready by the October 2017 end of its lease, Parcel 49C said. Trammell Crow's initial schedule was based on a Jan. 1 award by the GSA and predicted Sentinel Square III would be completed by Feb. 22, 2019, Parcel 49C said. Parcel 49C’s offer to renovate the Portals to meet new commission requirements depended on an Oct. 3 award by GSA, and a proposed completion date of Dec. 16, 2019. GSA had asked Parcel 49C for a one-year lease extension, but it's not clear if the agency is still seeking the extension, the filing said.