The Obama administration is keen on making sure the FBI gets construction of its new headquarters underway in fiscal 2017, committing $1.4 billion for construction in the 2017 budget, which will be released on Feb. 9.
The General Services Administration issued Phase II of the RFPs for the new facility on Jan. 22, highlighting the funding commitment as a big step forward.
"The Administration is committed to acquiring a consolidated new headquarters facility for the FBI, a member of the intelligence community," said GSA Public Buildings Service project executive Bill Dowd, in a statement. "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."
Phase II provides a shortlist of bidder the chance to submit proposals to build a new consolidated FBI headquarters building in exchange for the J. Edgar Hoover Building the bureau currently occupies in downtown D.C.
Congress approved $390 million in funding for the project in the 2016 Omnibus bill, and GSA identified three potential sites for the new headquarters, Springfield, Va. and Landover and Greenbelt, Md.
The new headquarters will combine the bureau's personnel and facilities from the Hoover building with other FBI offices in the D.C. metro area.
The project has caught the eye of developers for the lucrative real estate swap of the Hoover building, which sits on 1.77 million square feet and 6.7 acres of land.
