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WASHINGTON, February 05, 2025--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Easterly Government Properties, Inc. (NYSE: DEA) (the "Company" or "Easterly"), a fully integrated real estate investment trust focused primarily on the acquisition, development and management of Class A commercial properties leased to the U.S. Government and its adjacent partners, today offered recommendations to the leaders of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in support of their goal to make the General Services Administration (GSA) more efficient.
"DOGE represents an exciting opportunity for the United States Government to address the inefficiencies that exist in the thicket of federal bureaucracy and meaningfully save taxpayers money," said Darrell Crate, President & CEO of Easterly Government Properties and former Chairman of the Massachusetts Republican Party. "We have witnessed firsthand how slow decision-making and archaic financial rules have cost the American people significant resources. As the government undergoes this transformation, we stand aligned with DOGE’s efforts and are ready to leverage our expertise to help streamline operations, reduce costs, and ensure that taxpayer dollars are used efficiently."
"Easterly owns and develops mission-critical facilities that serve essential functions for our nation like getting deadly drugs such as Fentanyl off the street, furthering criminal investigations, including cyber and terrorism, providing state-of-the-art Veterans healthcare, and ensuring stronger border security, among others," said Crate. "After specializing in federal real estate for over 15 years, we have many observations of easy wins to save the Government money."
Crate has offered DOGE leadership the following recommendations for GSA reform:
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Reform TAPS & Leasing v. Owning Real Estate: Reform The Automated Prospectus Systems (TAPS) to reflect current fiscal realities that the GSA is not annually funded for real estate capital needs such as repairs and maintenance for its owned portfolio. This has contributed to the estimated $80 billion in deferred maintenance for the Government’s owned assets. Reforming the TAPS analysis will ensure the government better estimates the total cost of ownership and supports leasing as a more cost-effective solution.
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Increase Flexibility of Budget Scoring Rules: The federal government has self-imposed accounting rules that discourage public-private partnership, like not allowing the government to negotiate a discounted purchase option or permitting ground lease -lease backs. More flexible budgetary scoring will drive private sector innovation and ultimately save the Government money.
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Streamline Prospectus Lease Process: The prospectus planning process for renewal of GSA’s larger leases starts five years prior to its current lease expiration. This protracted timeline does not keep up with evolving market conditions. Cutting through the bureaucratic process and approving prospectus leases sooner can improve the viability of the procurement of leased space and ultimately improve the efficiency of the government and deliver more value for less.
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Modify Lease Structure: Government can save upfront costs by adopting a more commercial lease structure with annual escalations as opposed to flat rents for the duration of the lease term. This will allow the government to minimize rental obligations at the beginning of the lease and allow the lessor to keep pace with market conditions.