By Steve Neavling

A brazen armed robbery occurred just outside FBI’s headquarters at 10th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington D.C. on Tuesday evening. 

Police responded to a report of a robbery involving a gun at the intersection at about 6:45 p.m., The Washington Post reports.

Details of the robbery weren’t immediately clear, but no injuries were reported. 

It’s unusual for a robbery to occur so close to the J. Edgar Hoover Building. 

But without visible signage on the block-long building, it’s possible the robber had no idea that he or she was committing such a brazen crime just steps from the doors of FBI headquarters. 

Steve Neavling

The search for a future FBI headquarters should soon be narrowed down to a short list, the Washington Post reports.

Communities and politicians in Virginia and Maryland are watching closely as the FBI looks to build the largest new federal campus in more than 50 years.

Once the list is narrowed down to finalists, the developers will be invited to submit proposals to build the headquarters, the New York Times wrote.

The FBI is looking to build 2.1 million-square-foot campus that must be within 2.5 miles of the Beltway and two miles of a Metro station.

The federal government expects to choose the final location late next year.

Steve Neavling

If the primary owner of the Washington Nationals gets his way, the Landover Mall will become the new site of the FBI’s headquarters.

The Washington Post reports that Lerner Enterprises, a development firm run by the Nationals owner, has submitted the 88-acre site for consideration as the bureau’s new headquarters.

Sears is the only remaining tenant in the mall, and Sears is on its way out.

“With Sears closed the confusion that existed as to the availability of the entire site should be eliminated. We would hope to attract a major user or users to the site possibly the FBI. In that regard we have submitted the site to the GSA,” Alan H. Gottlieb, chief operating officer of Lerner Enterprises, told the Post in an e-mail.

Steve Neavling

Donald Trump’s real estate empire may soon include the FBI’s headquarters in Washington D.C., the Washington Post reports.

Trump said he’s considering bidding on the J. Edgar Hoover Building for redevelopment. He already owns the building across the street, the Old Post Office Pavilion.

The FBI has been looking for developers and investors to acquire the hulking building in exchange for a newly built FBI headquarters in the region.

Trump said he’ll decide soon whether to bid.

“We’ll be watching the FBI as to what’s going to happen,” Trump told the Washington Post. “Whether or not we will bid on it, we may, we may not. Now if we do as good a job as we will do with [the Old Post Office], people may ask us about it.”

Steve Neavling

Washington D.C. has a lot to lose – and gain – if the FBI moves its longtime headquarters to the suburbs. 

If the bureau moves from Pennsylvania Avenue NW, 4,800 jobs would go with it, the Washington Post reports.

But redevelopment of the site could generate an additional $28 million, the Post reported, citing a study commissioned by the city to determine the pros and cons of a move.

”There is a substantial yearly tax revenue benefit flowing to the District from replacing the current FBI Headquarters with a private-sector redevelopment,” the report reads. “There will be a net overall loss of jobs if the FBI leaves the District. The District can realize both incrementally higher yearly tax revenue and employment gains from having Poplar Point, or another District property selected as the relocation site, particularly when the transaction is structured as a private lease.”

OTHER STORIES OF INTEREST

• Reliability of FBI’s Facial Recognition Technology is Questioned
• Justice Department Keeps 96 Unpaid Employees on Staff
• FBI Audio Expert Testifies at George Zimmerman Trial
• Government to Review Immigration Petitions for Same-Sex Couples
• FBI, Forest Rangers Join Police in Search for Missing New York Boy

Steve Neavling

A congressional subcommittee plans to launch an investigation into the FBI’s search for a new headquarters, a move that could delay or derail the project the Washington Business Journal reports.

Some in Congress are questioning why the facility needs to be Metro accessible and how to maximize the value of the current building, the Business Journal reported.

The FBI and General Services Administration also can’t agree on wether a consolidated headquarters should be leased or purchased.

The cost for a new building would range from $1.9 billion to $3 billion., the Business Journal wrote.

Steve Neavling

FBI’s search for a new headquarters has drawn nearly three dozen offers from private and local groups, the Baltimore Sun reports.

The FBI wants to abandon its 38-year-old headquarters because it has outgrown the crumbling building and wants to find a new one that can accommodate 2.1 million square feet of offices space. 

The 35 proposals so far represent a “significant interest from the private sector to assist in developing a new, consolidated facility.,” GSA said in a statement to the Baltimore Sun.

It would cost the FBI $80.5 million to fix the current one, the Sun reported.

Garrett M. Graff

The FBI lists its official address as 935 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, as if one could wander by the angular, concrete, block-size headquarters without noticing the J. Edgar Hoover Building. The aging 11-story monstrosity — an especially ugly example of the Brutalist movement in architecture — is nearing the end of its life, and not even preservation experts want to save it.

But that doesn’t mean the bureau should leave the District.

The FBI’s requirements have shifted with time: Digital records have negated the need for floor upon floor of fingerprint files, while staff increases have led to workers being scattered across more than 20 annexes in this area alone. The thousands of Hoover Building staffers who spend their days in its drab corridors would almost certainly love a building filled with natural light and less linoleum.

To read more click here.