The Hoover Building
The Hoover Building Credit: Darrow Montgomery

We know D.C. Get our free newsletter to stay in the know.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation may soon be leaving the District, and city officials aren’t shedding any tears. Sure, Mayor Vince Gray pitched Poplar Point as a potential location for the agency, which is looking to decamp from its outdated headquarters, the J. Edgar Hoover Building on Pennsylvania Avenue NW. But Gray also says the FBI’s departure would free up lots of land for development—and private developers, unlike the feds, would actually pay property taxes. With the huge footprint a new FBI headquarters would require due to its Level V security, it wouldn’t do much for community-building, so there’s speculation that the city’s nod to Poplar Point is just perfunctory. After all, that site’s 10 acres are well below the 50 acres the feds are seeking, leading a top Gray deputy to concede that the District is “effectively ineligible” to retain the agency. While the federal government maintains D.C. is still in contention, with the $28 million-a-year tax boost the city will get if the FBI leaves, we might just say good riddance.