Federal Real Property: National Performance Review Recommendations

GAO discussed recommendations that deal with the General Services Administration's (GSA) federal real property activities. GAO noted that: (1) GSA should replace its current methods of doing business with new methods based on entrepreneurial and competitive principles; (2) Congress and the administration need to examine and resolve constraints or barriers that adversely affect GSA ability to compete in the marketplace; (3) a real property asset management enterprise should be created to separate GSA governmentwide policymaking and direct provision of office space; (4) barriers inhibiting effective asset management need to be reexamined and resolved; (5) GSA should suspend the acquisition of new federal office space by placing a temporary moratorium on all new federal space acquisitions; (6) the moratorium should not be so restrictive or inflexible as to preclude purchases, leases, and lease-purchases of existing buildings if such actions would reduce the government's overall real estate costs; (7) the moratorium should not prevent agencies from meeting their legitimate space needs; (8) GSA building construction programs should be scrutinized, given current market conditions and opportunities to reduce GSA construction project costs; and (9) GSA should simplify procedures for acquiring leased office space of less than 10,000 square feet and for renewing existing office space leases.