Federal Real Property: Greater Transparency and Strategic Focus Needed for High-Value GSA Leases
Highlights
What GAO Found
The General Services Administration's (GSA) 218 high-value leases GAO reviewed represented only about 3 percent of the total number of GSA leases, yet made up about one-third of its leased portfolio in terms of cost and size. GSA has reduced the costs of its high-value leases in line with the administration's goal to reduce real property costs. GSA's efforts include helping agencies improve space utilization. However, for leases nearing expiration, GSA and tenant agencies have faced challenges in funding space renovations and moving costs. This lack of funds has contributed to delays and some cases in which GSA continues to occupy space after the lease expires.
GSA officials stated that for most high-value leases, federal ownership would be more cost effective over the long term, but GSA did not have the funding available to purchase, renovate, or construct a building. GAO found that GSA's capital-planning approach lacks transparency and a strategic focus that could support more informed decision making in this area. Specifically, GSA does not follow capital-planning practices involving alternatives evaluation, project prioritization, and long-term capital planning:
- GSA's lease prospectuses do not discuss the length of time of the space need or alternative approaches to meeting it--which are key to understanding whether leasing or owning would be more cost-effective. Twenty-seven of the prospectuses (for leases expiring from 2012 through 2027) contained an analysis that showed potential savings of over $866 million if the spaces were owned rather than leased. GSA and OMB have decided the analysis is no longer necessary in light of the lack of capital funding for acquisitions and construction. GAO's case studies highlighted long-term, mission critical space needs, such as a lease for the Environmental Protection Agency in Seattle for space it has occupied for over 40 years. Another high-value lease is for the State Department's diplomatic security bureau in Virginia. State invested at least $80 million in security upgrades into a facility that GSA leased for 10 years.
- Further, GAO found that nine ongoing high-value leases did not go through the prospectus process. For example, GSA mistakenly did not prepare a prospectus for a 10-year Los Angeles lease for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. GSA did not notify Congress of these leases, further limiting transparency.
- GSA has not systematically prioritized which space needs currently in high-value leases it would be most beneficial to move to federally-owned solutions. GSA has not incorporated space needs that are the highest priority for ownership investment into a long-term capital plan.
This lack of information on the long-term consequences, including costs and risks, of high-value leases could inadvertently contribute to the federal government's overspending on long-term space needs. In contrast, a strategic vision incorporating leading practices for capital decision making could better position the government to save money over time. Increased transparency could promote collaboration with decision makers, which could help GSA address challenges and identify cost savings opportunities as leases expire.
Why GAO Did This Study
Overreliance on costly leasing is one reason that federal real property has remained on GAO's high-risk list. GAO's work has shown that building ownership often costs less than leasing, especially for long-term space needs. For leases with a net annual rent above a threshold--$2.79 million in fiscal year 2012--GSA is required to submit a prospectus, or proposal, to Congress. GAO was asked to review these high-value leases. This report (1) identifies their characteristics and what GSA has done to reduce their cost and (2) assesses the extent to which GSA's capital-planning approach supports informed leasing decisions. GAO reviewed GSA data for all 218 active high-value leases as of November 2012 and selected 12 leases for case studies based on expiration dates, locations, and tenant agencies. GAO reviewed relevant legislation and guidance, interviewed agency officials, and compared GSA actions to leading practices.
Recommendations
GSA should enhance the transparency of decision making for high-value leases by (1) including more information in the prospectus to Congress, such as the agency's prior and future need for the space, major investments needed, and an appropriate analysis of the cost of leasing versus the cost of ownership; (2) reporting to congressional committees about certain leases without a prospectus; and (3) prioritizing potential ownership solutions for current high-value leases to help create a long-term strategy for targeted ownership investments. GSA concurred with the recommendations.
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected Sort descending | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| General Services Administration | To enhance transparency and allow for more informed decision making related to the appropriate role of leasing in GSA's real property portfolio, the Administrator of GSA should include in the lease prospectus a description of the length of time that an agency estimates it will need the space, an historical account of how long the agency has been in the particular building it is occupying at the time of the prospectus, and any major investments the agency will have to make to the leased space to meet its mission. For those spaces for which the agency has a long-term projected need, also include an appropriate form of cost-to-lease versus cost-to-own analysis. |
Closed – Not Implemented
GSA has not implemented this recommendation because, according to GSA officials, doing so was either not feasible or inadvisable. Despite this, GSA's other efforts to increase transparency and strategic perspective on its high value leased portfolio should better ensure that GSA strategically considers whether and when to make targeted investments in ownership in order to produce long-term cost savings. As a result, we are closing this recommendation as not implemented.
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| General Services Administration | To enhance transparency and allow for more informed decision making related to the appropriate role of leasing in GSA's real property portfolio, the Administrator of GSA should report to the appropriate congressional committees any leases above the prospectus-threshold that did not follow the congressional prospectus process. |
Closed – Implemented
GSA is required by statute to provide a prospectus, or proposal, for real property leases above a prospectus threshold ($2.79 million in fiscal year 2012) to House and Senate authorizing committees for their review and approval. In 2013, GAO reported that three ongoing high-value leases mistakenly did not go through the prospectus process. For example, GSA did not prepare a prospectus for a 10-year Los Angeles lease for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers valued at over $30 million. As a result of GSA not requesting approval for these leases, there was limited transparency and congressional oversight over these transactions. GAO also identified four high-value leases that that started below the prospectus threshold but over time new space was added in supplemental lease agreements that put the lease over the prospectus threshold. GSA officials stated that this occurred due to subsequent expansion to meet unforeseen agency needs. According to GSA officials, GSA's policy is that if a modification to a lease after occupancy causes a below-prospectus lease to exceed the prospectus threshold, a new prospectus is not necessary unless the changes were foreseeable before occupancy. GAO recommended that GSA report to the appropriate congressional committees any leases above the prospectus-threshold that did not follow the congressional prospectus process. In 2017, GAO confirmed that GSA had notified the appropriate Congressional Committee in December 2014 of the three prospectus submission errors with effective dates in 2001, 2006, and 2007. GSA also made efforts to improve internal controls in this area and emphasized that it now sends all leases that are above the prospectus threshold to Congress, with no deviations. Furthermore, GSA stated that it was committed to sharing all client and market information with Congress in the prospectus process and beyond. Notifying Congress about the submission errors and greater attention to communication and transparency with regard to its leasing program has improved GSA's accountability to Congress and will allow the committees to better exercise their oversight responsibility.
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| General Services Administration |
Priority Rec.
To enhance transparency and allow for more informed decision making related to the appropriate role of leasing in GSA's real property portfolio, the Administrator of GSA should develop and use criteria to rank and prioritize potential long-term ownership solutions to current high-value leases among other capital investments. Use this ranking to create a long-term, cross-agency strategy that facilitates consideration of targeted investments in ownership. This strategy could be incorporated initially as a separate but related part of the capital plan we previously recommended that GSA develop in 2012, or integrated into the capital plan itself. |
Closed – Implemented
Overreliance on costly leasing is one reason that federal real property has remained on GAO's high-risk list. GAO's work has shown that building ownership often costs less than leasing, especially for long-term space needs. In 2013, GAO reported that GSA had not systematically prioritized which space needs currently in high-value leases would be most beneficial to move to federally-owned solutions. Also, GSA had not incorporated space needs that are the highest priority for ownership investment into a long-term capital plan. This lack of information on the long-term consequences, including costs and risks, of high-value leases could inadvertently contribute to the federal government's overspending on long-term space needs. Therefore, GAO recommended that GSA prioritize potential ownership solutions for current high-value leases to help create a long-term strategy for targeted ownership investments. In 2017, GAO confirmed that GSA had developed a list of criteria to rank and prioritize space needs that are currently being met in high-value leases to determine which would benefit most from converting to a federally-owned solution. According to a GSA official, GSA has used the criteria to identify high-value lease purchase opportunities. In addition, GSA has developed software that considers lease-cost avoidance in prioritizing projects for its capital plan. According to GSA officials, several of the projects in the five-year capital plan would reduce lease costs by moving space needs out of leases and into government-owned property. These actions will allow for more informed decision making related to the appropriate role of leasing in GSA's real property portfolio, as well as position GSA to create a long-term strategy for targeted ownership investments.
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