US Government Agency Real Estate Market

The Federal Government, the largest user of real estate in the nation, occupies 370 million square feet of office and related space.  Currently, over 191 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 six-year time span of 2003-2009, the Federal Government increased its occupancy of leased office space by 264 million square feet, representing a 71% growth rate as compared with a 16% (490 million square feet) 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.