Public Buildings Reform Board urges quicker access to proceeds and local coordination for property sales

Mike Capuano, a member of the Public Buildings Reform Board, told the subcommittee the board's purpose is to identify underutilized federal properties with significant deferred maintenance and recommend them for disposition to OMB and GSA. He said the board has submitted three rounds of recommendations and that the May round covered 11 properties totaling about 7.1 million gross square feet."The board's independent analysis identified approximately $50,000,000,000 in deferred maintenance and repair liabilities across the entire GSA owned portfolio," Capuano said, and he urged faster access to asset proceeds to enable relocations and subsequent disposals.Congressional members asked how the recommendations proceed after OMB approval; Capuano explained PBRB can only recommend and that GSA has authority to execute dispositions. Several members, including Delegate Norton, pressed for stronger coordination with local governments and proposed entities like a redevelopment corporation or master developer to manage large, place‑based disposals in Washington, D.C. Heller and GAO agreed that strategic, locally coordinated redevelopment is worth exploring and committed to stakeholder engagement."We very much favor the the concept of creating some sort of entity to do it," Capuano said in support of a DC redevelopment approach.The subcommittee did not vote on any legislative fixes but the discussion highlighted potential congressional actions to streamline reuse of proceeds and improve the local planning process for federal property sales.