Authorization To Convey Federal Archives Building

GAO responded to questions concerning an application from the Archives Preservation Corporation (APC), a wholly owned subsidiary of the New York Urban Development Corporation (UDC), requesting the conveyance of the Federal Archives Building in New York City for historic monument purposes under applicable statutes. It was questioned whether the various provisions in the application relating to the disposition of payments to be made by the project developer to the State were in conformity with the requirements of the law. GAO was unaware of any basis for legally objecting to approval of the APC application for conveyance of the Federal Archives Building. Even though the application requires the developer who will be restoring and maintaining the property to make payments in lieu of real estate and sales taxes, these are customary costs for UDC-sponsored projects and they are not being assessed merely to circumvent the requirement that all incomes in excess of costs be used for historic preservation purposes. UDC may be reimbursed fees, representing costs it has incurred in participating in the development and implementation of the plan for restoration and maintenance of the Federal Archives Building, pursuant to the applicable statute if the Secretary of the Interior deems the fees to be reasonable. It is the UDC custom to recover the costs from developers under projects it sponsors and these are valid costs of the project. A nonprofit corporation which participated at the request of the General Services Administration and New York City in the preparation of the financing plan and the selection of the developer to implement the plan for repair and maintenance of the Building, may be reimbursed the costs if the Secretary of the Interior finds it reasonable. Nothing serves to limit the amount of income in excess of costs which could be generated by revenue-producing activities. Legislative history indicates that the Secretary of the Interior is to use as an important criteria in approving financing plans under the statute whether the plan will generate a significant amount of the income.