I 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5001 

To authorize the Administrator of General Services to provide for the redevelopment of the Old Post Office Building located in the District of Columbia. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 16, 2008 

Ms. NORTON introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 

A BILL 

To authorize the Administrator of General Services to provide for the redevelopment of the Old Post Office Building located in the District of Columbia. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Old Post Office Build5 ing Redevelopment Act of 2008’’. 

6 SEC. 2. OLD POST OFFICE BUILDING DEFINED. 

7 In this Act, the term ‘‘Old Post Office Building’’ 

8 means the land, including any improvements thereon, that 

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1 trict of Columbia, and under the jurisdiction, custody, and 

2 control of the General Services Administration. 

3 SEC. 3. FINDINGS. 

4 Congress finds the following: 

5 (1) For almost a decade the Subcommittee on 

6 Economic Development, Public Buildings and Emer7 gency Management of the Committee on Transpor8 tation and Infrastructure of the House of Represent9 atives has expressed considerable concern about the 

10 waste and neglect of the valuable, historic Old Post 

11 Office Building, centrally located in the heart of the 

12 Nation’s Capitol on Pennsylvania Avenue, and has 

13 pressed the General Services Administration to de14 velop and fully use this building. 

15 (2) The disposition of the Old Post Office 

16 Building became even more pressing following a vio17 lent altercation and killing outside the Old Post Of18 fice Building after an event in which the General 

19 Services Administration rented the facility to gain 

20 some revenue from the building. 

21 (3) The policy of the Government long has been 

22 to preserve and make usable historic properties rath23 er than sell them for revenue, particularly this prop24 erty where security matters related to its location 

25 alone may hinder its against sale to a private party. 


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1 (4) The General Services Administration issued 

2 a Request for Expression of Interest in 2004 for de3 veloping the Old Post Office Building that generated 

4 a healthy private sector interest, but the General 

5 Services Administration failed to move forward re6 garding such interest. 

7 (5) The Old Post Office Building is a wasted 

8 asset and a drain on revenue while its full use, its 

9 central location, and unique historic value could pro10 vide a handsome financial return to the Government. 

11 SEC. 4. REDEVELOPMENT OF OLD POST OFFICE BUILDING. 

12 (a) AUTHORITY TO ENTER INTO AGREEMENTS.— 

13 (1) DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENT.—The Admin14 istrator of General Services may enter into a devel15 opment agreement with a private entity to provide 

16 for the redevelopment of the Old Post Office Build17 ing. 

18 (2) OTHER AGREEMENTS.—In addition to the 

19 development agreement authorized under paragraph 

20 (1), the Administrator and the private entity se21 lected under such paragraph may enter into other 

22 agreements (including leases, contracts, cooperative 

23 agreements, trusts, and ground leases) to provide for 

24 the development, construction, rehabilitation, oper25 ation, maintenance, or use of the Old Post Office 


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1 Building or such other activities related to the Old 

2 Post Office Building as the Administrator considers 

3 appropriate. 

4 (b) SELECTION OF PRIVATE ENTITY.—The Adminis5 trator shall select a private entity under subsection (a) 

6 using such procedures as the Administrator considers nec7 essary to promote competition and protect the interests 

8 of the United States. 

9 (c) TERMS AND CONDITIONS.—The development 

10 agreement authorized under subsection (a)(1)— 

11 (1) shall have as its primary purpose enhancing 

12 the value of the Old Post Office Building to the 

13 United States; 

14 (2) shall contain such terms and conditions and 

15 be negotiated pursuant to such procedures as the 

16 Administrator considers necessary to promote com17 petition and protect the interests of the United 

18 States; 

19 (3) may include provisions for a ground lease of 

20 the Old Post Office Building, or any part thereof, 

21 for a term not to exceed 50 years; 

22 (4) may provide a lease option to the United 

23 States, to be exercised at the discretion of the Ad24 ministrator, to occupy any general purpose office 

25 space in the Old Post Office Building; 


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1 (5) shall not require, unless specifically deter2 mined otherwise by the Administrator, Federal own3 ership of the Old Post Office Building at or near the 

4 expiration of any space lease of that facility to the 

5 United States; 

6 (6) shall describe the consideration, duties, and 

7 responsibilities for which the United States and the 

8 private entity are responsible; 

9 (7) shall provide— 

10 (A) that the United States will not be lia11 ble for any action, debt, or liability of any enti12 ty created by the development agreement; and 

13 (B) that such entity may not execute any 

14 instrument or document creating or evidencing 

15 any indebtedness unless such instrument or 

16 document specifically disclaims any liability of 

17 the United States under the instrument or doc18 ument; and 

19 (8) shall include such other terms and condi20 tions as the Administrator considers appropriate. 

21 (d) CONSIDERATION.—The development agreement 

22 entered into under subsection (a)(1) shall be for fair con23 sideration, as determined by the Administrator. Consider24 ation under the agreement may be provided in whole or 

25 in part through in-kind consideration, including provision 


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1 of space, goods, or services of benefit to the United States, 

2 and may also include construction, repair, remodeling, or 

3 other physical improvements or maintenance of Federal 

4 property. 

5 (e) OBLIGATIONS TO MAKE PAYMENTS.—Any obliga6 tion to make payments by the Administrator for the use 

7 of space, goods, or services by the General Services Ad8 ministration on property that is subject to a development 

9 or other agreement under this section may only be made 

10 to the extent that necessary funds have been made avail11 able, in advance, in an annual appropriations Act, to the 

12 Administrator from the fund established under section 

13 592 of title 40, United States Code. 

14 (f) NATIONAL CAPITAL PLANNING COMMISSION.— 

15 Nothing in this section may be construed to limit or other16 wise affect the authority of the National Capital Planning 

17 Commission with respect to the Old Post Office Building. 

18 (g) RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER LAWS.—The authority 

19 of the Administrator under this Act shall not be subject 

20 to— 

21 (1) chapter 5 of subtitle I of title 40, United 

22 States Code; 

23 (2) section 3307 of title 40, United States 

24 Code; 


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1 (3) section 501 of the McKinney-Vento Home2 less Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11411); or 

3 (4) any other provision of law (other than Fed4 eral laws relating to environmental and historic pres5 ervation) inconsistent with this section. 

6 SEC. 5. REPORTING REQUIREMENT. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Before entering into a develop8 ment agreement under section 3, the Administrator of 

9 General Services shall transmit to the Committee on 

10 Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Rep11 resentatives and the Committee on Environment and Pub12 lic Works of the Senate a report on such agreement. 

13 (b) CONTENTS.—A report transmitted under this sec14 tion shall include a summary of a cost-benefit analysis of 

15 the proposed development agreement and a description of 

16 the material provisions of the proposed agreement. 

17 (c) REVIEW BY CONGRESS.—A proposed development 

18 agreement under section 3 may not become effective until 

19 the end of a 30-day period of continuous session of Con20 gress following the date of the transmittal of a report on 

21 the agreement under this section. For purposes of the pre22 ceding sentence, continuity of a session of Congress is bro23 ken only by an adjournment sine die, and there shall be 

24 excluded from the computation of such 30-day period any 

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1 sion during an adjournment of more than 3 days to a day 

2 certain. 

3 SEC. 6. USE OF PROCEEDS. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Net proceeds to the Government 

5 from a development or other agreement entered into under 

6 section 3 shall be deposited into, administered, and ex7 pended, subject to appropriations Acts, as part of the fund 

8 established under section 592 of title 40, United States 

9 Code. In this subsection, the term ‘‘net proceeds from an 

10 agreement entered into under section 3’’ means the pro11 ceeds from the agreement minus the expenses incurred by 

12 the Administrator with respect to the agreement. 

13 (b) RECOVERY OF EXPENSES.—The Administrator 

14 may retain from the proceeds of a development or other 

15 agreement entered into under section 3 amounts necessary 

16 to recover the expenses incurred by the Administrator with 

17 respect to the agreement. Such amounts may be expended 

18 without further appropriation or authorization or may be 

19 used to reimburse the fund or account of the Adminis20 trator that initially incurred the expense with respect to 

21 the agreement. 

22 SEC. 7. SAVINGS CLAUSE. 

23 The authority granted to the Administrator of Gen24 eral Services under this Act with respect to the Old Post 

25 Office Building shall be in addition to authorities of the 


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1 Administrator to acquire, operate, maintain, protect, or 

2 dispose of real property. 

Æ 


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