A Bill: Empty Federal Buildings

Fast-tracking the sale of vacant federal buildings

The U.S. is the biggest property owner in the countrySign: Alamy; Building: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg

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By Kristen Hinman

August 2, 2013 at 1:26 AM UTC

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This article is part of the August 5, 2013 issue of businessweek.

Senate Bill 1398: Federal Real Property Asset Management Act of 2013

The Essentials:
1. The U.S. government spends an estimated $1.7 billion annually keeping up vacant and underused buildings. A key reason agencies don’t unload the properties: By law they first have to offer them for free to homeless-services providers and forgo sale proceeds. S. 1398 sets aside that requirement temporarily, creating a five-year program to fast-track the sale of 1,000 properties. The idea is to cut waste and make money by selling the most desirable buildings to the private sector.