FBI Halts Move To Suburbs; Fairfax County Officials React

SPRINGFIELD, VA—The federal government has called off a $2.5 billion proposal to move the FBI headquarters to a site in the DC suburbs. One of the locations being considered was a federally-owned warehouse in Springfield, Va. The other two sites were in Prince George's County, Md.

The Washington Post broke the news Monday that the FBI would not move from the crumbling J. Edgar Hoover Building in downtown DC—for now. For years, federal officials have pushed Congress to sell the Hoover Building and covering remaining costs of a new building with about $2 billion in taxpayer dollars. Congress appropriated at least $523 million in May but rescinded $200 million of it last month.

On Tuesday, the General Services Administration cited an $882 million funding gap in the decision to stop the project. "The cancellation of the project does not lessen the need for a new FBI headquarters. GSA and FBI will continue to work together to address the space requirements of the FBI," the agency said in a statement.

“With [or] without the FBI, we see enormous revitalization and investment in Springfield,” he told WTOP. “So, while this would have helped Springfield, this in no way, shape or form will set Springfield back in terms of high-quality growth and revitalization that we’re experiencing there.”

Gerald Gordon, president and CEO of the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority, said the county will continue to help agencies wanting to locate there.

“The process for a new FBI headquarters did not move forward, but the Springfield area and Fairfax County as a whole continue to be an excellent option for federal agencies looking for office space because of the diversity of real estate choices and the proximity to a high-quality workforce, transportation options and amenities for employees," he said in a statement.

The cancellation of the project has potentially a worse impact in Prince George's County, where sites in Greenbelt and Landover were being considered. PG County Executive Rushern Baker said earlier this year that they believed the new facility could do to PG County what the Pentagon did to Northern Virginia. The project could have brought 11,000 jobs to the area, Patch reports.

Image via Library of Congress