GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION

[GSA Bulletin FPMR-239, Supplement 1] Implementation of the Delegation of  Lease Acquisition Authority

AGENCY: Office of Governmentwide Policy, GSA.
ACTION: Notice of bulletin.

SUMMARY: The attached bulletin announces the details for the implementation
of the Delegation of Lease Acquisition Authority from the General Services
Administration.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Ms. Marjorie L. Lomax, Director, Evaluation and Outreach, Office of Real
Property on (202) 501-0379 or the OGP homepage at: http://policyworks.gov/
org/main/mp/linkit.htm.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Public Buildings and Space

To: Heads of Federal Agencies

Subject:
Implementation of the Delegation of Lease Acquisition Authority

1. Purpose. This bulletin announces the details for the implementation of
the Delegation of Lease Acquisition Authority from the General Services
Administration (GSA).

2. Expiration. This bulletin contains information of a continuing nature
and will remain in effect until canceled.

3. Background.

a. The Administrator of General Services signed a letter on
September 25, 1996, to the heads of all Federal agencies announcing the new
"Can't Beat GSA Leasing" program and delegating authority to them to
lease space on their own. This bulletin provides details about the
delegation.

b. Federal agencies now have an option to either use GSA when a new lease
is necessary or conduct the lease procurement themselves. The delegation
program includes some conditions which agencies need to meet when the
procurement is not performed by GSA. These conditions, discussed below,
include training in lease contracting, and reporting data to GSA. Beyond this,
GSA's Office of Governmentwide Policy (OGP) will evaluate the effectiveness of the Government's leasing program.

c. One condition of the delegation is the use of adequately trained lease
contracting officers for procurements. To assist agencies in any training
necessary for their personnel, we are sharing information on what GSA does.
Our specialists complete, at a minimum, five basic formal training courses.
Beyond these courses, GSA requires a combination of hands-on experience
and additional training in development of space requirements, Federal real
property leasing policies and procedures, space planning, budgeting and
property administration. The basic formal training courses are:

1. Federal Real Property Leasing or Basic Lease Contracting.
2. Government Contract Negotiating or Federal Real Property Leases.
3. Cost and Price Analysis of Leasing Proposals.
4. Real Estate Law or Federal Real Property Lease Law.
5. Real Estate Appraisal Principles.
d. The OGP develops, coordinates and issues Governmentwide policy as well
as evaluates and assesses the effectiveness of policy implementation. In
evaluating the effectiveness of the leasing program, Federal agencies will
be asked to work together with OGP on reviews of this program. Those
agencies using the delegation are asked to provide OGP with leasing performance data every six months. This data, along with data from GSA's Public Buildings Service, will permit OGP to analyze and evaluate the overall Governmentwide leasing program and recommend fine- tuning to improve it. Initial reports should be provided by April 30, 1997, and include all actions through the end of March 1997.
Specific information regarding data collection is noted below.

4. Action

a. Federal agencies operating under this program are subject to the
conditions and reporting requirements of the delegation of authority.
(1) The semi-annual performance reports are due April 30, and October
31.
(2) Report should be sent to the GSA, OGP, Office of Real Property Policy
(MP), 18th & F Streets, NW., Room 6223, Washington, DC 20405.
(3) Reports should be presented in a spreadsheet format with a disk
containing the data.
(4) The following definitions are provided for reporting data:
(a) Contract Number.
(b) Building Address--Street address, city and state of the leased building.

(c) CBA--Is this building within the Central Business Area (CBA)? (Yes or
No)
(d) Number of Offers Received--The number of offers received in response to
the requirement.
(e) Rentable Sq. Ft.--The area for which rent is charged. It is based on the
local commercial method of measurement.
(f) ANSI (BOMA) Usable Sq. Ft.--The assignable space used by the agency's
personnel and furnishings. It is measured to the inside finish of the
dominant portion (e.g. window glass line) of permanent exterior walls. It
also includes circulation within the space assignment. This term replaces
GSA's "Occupiable" space measurement.
(g) Rental Range--Provide the high and low dollar per sq. ft. rates for
acceptable properties found during the market survey and from best and
final offers received. (Specify method of measurement used for square foot
rates.)
(h) Effective Rent Rate--The rate is obtained by dividing the total rent to
be paid over the lease term (after deducting from the total rent any
credits due such as cash payments to adjust for rent-free periods or
stepped rents from the lessor) by the length of the lease term. This is
then divided by the rentable square feet in the lease. Estimated CPI
escalations and tax escalations are not to be included in this calculation.
(i) Annual Contract rent--Total annual rent.
(j) Effective date of Lease--Date the lease takes effect.
(k) Expiration Date--Date the current lease term expires.
(l) Lease Term--The specific terms of the lease including any cancellations
or renewal rights.
(m) Completion Time--The total number of days required from GSA notice of no
suitable available space to lease award.
(n) Build-Out Time--The total number of days required from contract award to
space occupancy.
(o) Comments--This should include information pertinent to the leasing
action including whether fully serviced or what services are not provided
as part of the lease and the cost of such services
(e.g. electricity, cleaning, etc.).
(b) Further information regarding this program may be obtained by
contacting Ms. Marjorie L. Lomax, Director, Evaluation and Outreach, Office
of Real Property on (202) 501-0379 or the OGP homepage at:
http://policyworks.gov/ org/main/mp/linkit.htm.
Federal Register  /  Vol. 61, No. 244  /  Wednesday, December 18, 1996  / 
Notices
66669

Dated: December 9, 1996.
G. Martin Wagner,
Associate Administrator for Governmentwide
Policy.
[FR Doc. 96-32061 Filed 12-17-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6820-23-M