US Federal Government Real Estate Market

The Federal Government of the US, the largest user of real estate in the United States, owns and occupies 266 million square meters of office and related space.  Currently, 35 million square meters 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 2002-2007, the Federal Government increased its occupancy of leased office space by 4 million square meters, representing a 12% growth rate as compared with a 16% 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.