In Focus | Federal Buildings in the Nation’s Capital

For years, “the federal government has used its presence to drive neighborhood development and growth,” says Norman Dong, former commissioner of the GSA Public Buildings Service and an instructor in the Master’s in Urban & Regional Planning program at Georgetown University. Now, we’re seeing “the opposite effect.” The federal presence has been declining in Washington, D.C., and elsewhere, resulting in underutilized buildings and “federal enclaves that are just dreary and lacking any vitality,” says Dong. And that problem is only going to get worse, with the GSA looking to reduce its nationwide real estate footprint by 50 percent, or 360 million square feet. But there is an upside to this seemingly dismal trend, Dong tells Faculty Director Uwe Brandes: “It presents a huge opportunity for the District of Columbia to reimagine these neighborhoods and help them achieve their full potential.”