Opinion ID: 667573
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Federal Triangle Development Act of 1987

Text: 10 By August 1987, the PADC had conducted four development competitions for multi-million dollar projects. In 1978 it selected the developer for National Place, a complex that includes a shopping mall, a hotel, and the National Theater. That same year, the PADC also selected the developer who would refurbish the Willard Hotel. In 1984 came the development competition for Market Square, which combines residential and retail space. Finally, in 1987 the PADC selected the developer for an apartment complex called Lansburgh's. 11 Congress apparently was quite pleased with this track record. Though federal procurement law generally provides that only the General Services Administration (GSA) can construct public buildings, the Federal Triangle Development Act of 1987 bypassed the normal mechanisms and entrusted the Federal Triangle Development Project to the PADC, subject to various consultation requirements. See 40 U.S.C. Secs. 1101-09. The statute transferred the title for the development site from the GSA to the PADC, id. Sec. 1102, and directed the PADC to come up with logistical plans and design criteria for the federal building complex that Congress envisioned, id. Sec. 1103. Once these plans and criteria cleared a legislative-veto procedure, cf. Immigration & Naturalization Serv. v. Chadha, 462 U.S. 919, 103 S.Ct. 2764, 77 L.Ed.2d 317 (1983), the statute instructed the PADC to select the site's developer through a competition conducted in accordance with the existing policies and procedures of the Corporation for a development competition. 40 U.S.C. Sec. 1104(a)(3). 12 Although the ultimate cost of the Triangle Project would be borne by taxpayers, Congress arranged not to pay development costs up front. Instead, the PADC and the winning developer would enter into a development agreement under which the developer could hold title to the building for up to 35 years after the date on which construction began. Id. Sec. 1104(b). The developer would be obliged to lease the building to the GSA, id., at a rental rate calculated to amortize the development costs over the term of the lease, id. Sec. 1105(b)(2). At the end of the lease term, when all the development costs would have been paid, title to the building would be transferred from the developer to the GSA, which would also regain title over the land on which the building was built. Id. Secs. 1104(b)(2), 1102(a)(2). 13