President Obama will ask Congress for $1.4 billion to help consolidate and move the FBI headquarters to the Washington suburbs in his 2017 budget proposal.
Congress included $390 million for the project in the catchall spending bill passed last month that funded the federal government for the rest of fiscal 2016.
The General Services Administration issued a “request for proposal” on Friday to a winnowed list of contractors and developers who will provide bids for constructing and developing a new 2.1 million square foot headquarters for the FBI in either Prince George’s County, Md. or Springfield, Va.
The winner will agree to build the new facility in exchange for the deed to the iconic J. Edgar Hoover Federal Building on Pennsylvania Avenue.
The appropriations will help fill any gap in construction funding, as well as underwrite the consolidation of FBI facilities now scattered across the Washington metro area into the new headquarters, according to GSA.
“The administration is committed to acquiring a consolidated new headquarters facility for the FBI, a member of the intelligence community,” GSA’s Bill Dowd stated. “The consolidated headquarters facility will allow the FBI to perform its critical national security, intelligence and law enforcement missions in a new modern and secure facility.”
Whoever wins the bid will receive title to the 2.4 million square foot Hoover Building, which will likely be converted into retail, office and residential space, much like the site of the old Washington convention center, now City Center D.C., a few blocks away.
