Construction Contract Awarded for CISA's new SE DC Headquarters

GSA Awards Clark Construction With Deal To Build Cybersecurity Branch’s DC-Area Hub

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency's proposed headquarters is slated for the St. Elizabeths West Campus in Southeast D.C. (General Services Administration)

By Katie Burke CoStar News |August 20, 2024 | 4:34 P.M.

The recent awarding of a $524 million contract to Clark Construction to build the new headquarters for the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency on the St. Elizabeths Campus marks a significant investment for Southeast Washington, D.C. This development is not only a major step forward in consolidating the Department of Homeland Security's operations, but it also represents a great opportunity to revitalize an area that has faced long-standing disinvestment. By establishing a secure jobs base in this location, the project will help distribute economic benefits, fostering growth and stability in the community. This initiative, partially funded by the Inflation Reduction Act, underscores the importance of strategic investment in underserved areas, offering the potential for long-term economic development and enhanced community resilience.

The federal government, after a string of high-profile cuts to its vast real estate portfolio, is dishing out a half-billion-dollar construction contract to develop the new headquarters for a cybersecurity branch in Washington, D.C.

The General Services Administration, the government's overseer and manager of real estate, has awarded a $524 million deal to Clark Construction to build the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency's new 630,000-square-foot headquarters on the St. Elizabeths West Campus. The project is ultimately expected to cost about $2.8 billion as part of a broader consolidation plan that will concentrate the Department of Homeland Security's primary hub on the Southeast D.C. campus.

“Across [the] DHS, our team works tirelessly to confront and mitigate threats to our critical infrastructure,” Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas said in a statement. “Bringing the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency to the Department of Homeland Security’s St. Elizabeths Campus will better facilitate collaboration across our components and offices, and inspire cohesive work to ensure our nation’s infrastructure is secure and resilient."

The development is designed to ultimately span 10 stories. More than 20% of it will be funded by capital made available through the Inflation Reduction Act. The GSA has said nearly $290 million of funds from the legislation, which was passed in 2022, will go toward efforts to consolidate the Department of Homeland Security's operations.

The finalized contract lands about a year and a half after the GSA issued the bid for the St. Elizabeths West campus. While the government initially expected the new CISA building could be complete by 2026, the revised development timeline for the project has not yet been disclosed.

The project is a standout against a backdrop of cuts the federal government has made in an effort to consolidate its real estate portfolio and adjust to the impact of flexible work.

Earlier this month the GSA unveiled plans to shrink office space occupied by the Department of State, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and some Treasury Department agencies. The government has opted to let the leases for three Department of State offices in Washington and Northern Virginia lapse and consolidate employees into locations the agency already leases or are federally owned.

Those plans — the locations for which were not publicly disclosed — would result in cuts of more than 771,550 square feet to the department's regional presence as well as savings of nearly $11 million, according to a recent White House-issued report.

As the Washington region's largest office occupant, the federal government's cuts have made it especially challenging for the area to build meaningful momentum to aid in its post-pandemic recovery.

The city's record-high vacancy and availability rates have largely been attributed to many federal government agency staff still working remotely. Vacancy in D.C.'s East End — the sixth-largest office market in the country by total inventory and home to many GSA-leased and -owned properties — is around 20%, according to CoStar data, and it has struggled in the face of plummeting rents and valuations.

Federal government agencies account for about 20% of the jobs in the Washington area, according to CoStar analysis.

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