Philadelphia Building

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed a proposed federal center project in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. GAO noted that: (1) the Postal Service will own the building and use one floor for vehicle parking, and the General Services Administration (GSA) will lease the remainder of the building from the Postal Service; (2) of the 6 million square feet of vacant office space, less than 2 million square feet is class A office space, which GSA prefers to lease; (3) GSA believes that the private sector cannot offer a comparable lease rate, since the Postal Service owns the land, does not require a large profit margin, and can finance the project at a lower rate; (4) quoted lease rates vary due to the use of different variables; and (5) the project will be superior to conventional leased space with the amenities offered and will to allow one-stop federal service to taxpayers in Philadelphia.