The House has approved legislation aimed at stepping up sales of vacant and underused federal buildings, a move that major contractors’ groups say could lead to a large volume of construction work as the facilities are converted to new uses.
One bill, which the House approved on May 23, would create a Public Buildings Reform Board, charged with recommending surplus federal buildings as candidates for sale.
The maximum total sales would be $8 billion. Likely purchasers are private developers seeking to turn unused federal office structures, warehouses and other buildings into residential or commercial facilities.
Brian Turmail, a spokesman for the Associated General Contractors of America, said the potential construction volume would far exceed the $8 billion sales-transaction total.
He pointed to the General Services Administration’s $19.5-million sale in 2013 of the former Georgetown Heating Plant in Washington, D.C., to a developer team. The team is converting the plant to condominiums, requiring more than $100 million in construction work, according to Turmail.
He said in an emailed statement, “In our mind, this federal initiative has the potential for building contractors—federal and private—to be on the scale of what the highway bill is for transportation contractors.”
Marco Giamberardino, National Electrical Contractors Association executive director for government affairs, said via email, "We believe this could indeed prove to be a real opportunity for the industry."