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It seems like the D.C. business world is waiting for two things right now: a Barack Obama victory and the resulting immediate, euphoric spending, followed by the arrival of appointees dropping big bucks on real estate, and other power-brokery buys.
Then, there’s the spending from the bailout—-whereupon federal agencies will hire new employees with financial backgrounds, and rent tons of office space. Ca-Ching, Ca-Ching for the commercial real estate world.
Well, today, the Washington Business Journal examines whether that later change will occur, and it does not come up with a very rosy outlook:
The General Services Administration, which handles leases for most federal tenants, does not expect the space needs for the Treasury Department to reach the “prospectus” level, said GSA regional spokesman Michael McGill. Prospectus-level leases, which require congressional approval, are valued at $2.66 million and above annually.
To fill that space, McGill said the GSA has rented 100 temporary workstations from Luxembourg-based Regus. Treasury plans to use those workstations for 12 to 18 months. The GSA also has an option to rent 100 more workstations by Jan. 2 and will continue to explore a more permanent solution as the Treasury Department identifies its needs, McGill said.