General Services Administration (GSA) is tasked for the acquisition and administration of leasehold interests and other real estate services in support of GSA and other government agencies. GSA has a total leased inventory of 155 million square feet located in 6,000 buildings across the United States, including Alaska and Hawaii, and the U.S territories of Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, Guam, Saipan, Federated States of Micronesia, Marshall Islands, Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, and American Samoa.

With directions to downsize and combine like efforts, GSA looked to the private industry to determine the feasibility of outsourcing and testing the compatibility of contracting GSA’s leasing support requirements to the private sector.  After reviewing private sector practices and to support congressional mandates, in 1997 GSA awarded eight zonal real estate contracts under full and open competition. These contracts were GSA’s first attempt to define consistent services levels throughout GSA and offered private industry a glance at GSA’s lease acquisition processes and methods. 

Due to the nature of real estate broker services throughout the nation, inconsistent implementation, and contractor misconceptions with Government leasing requirements, these contracts did not provide the level of service needed by all GSA Regions. 

In supporting the goal for National Coherence, standardized and consistent broker services across GSA are required. National Coherence holds that, to the greatest extent possible, GSA relationships with client agencies and vendors need to be leveraged nationally.  The practicality of National Coherence provides for elimination of duplication of effort, consistency of administration, and alleviation of disruption to vital agency functions.  National Coherence will also have a positive effect in time-savings for the customer agency in the acquisition of their leased space.

GSA anticipates achieving substantial monetary, technical benefits, and quality improvements from bundling its lease acquisition requirements under the National Broker Contracts. Generally, commercial broker services are based upon market forces and GSA is a large player in the market. Taking advantage of GSA’s size in the commercial real estate market and the leveraging of leased inventory, the expectation is for significant price reductions, and improved contract performance through high quality real estate firms. The procurement supports GSA’s strategic measures and goals for coherence, consistency, and customer focus.

The award of a new national contract is anticipated in 2004.