US Government Agency Real Estate Market

The Federal Government, the largest user of real estate in the nation, occupies 3.2 billion square feet of office and related space.  Currently, 380 million square feet of that space is leased.  According to the General Services Administration (GSA), property manager for the Federal Government, the amount of government-leased space continues to grow at a more rapid pace than that of owned space.  During the five-year time span of 2000-2005, the Federal Government increased its occupancy of leased office space by 67 million square feet, representing a 21% growth rate as compared with a 5% reduction in occupancy of owned space.

Additional government property activity has been driven by the creation of new government agencies and departments (Transportation Security Administration and Homeland Security) and the implementation of new safety and security requirements for existing agencies after September 11, 2001.