For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
Contact: Sara Kuban, 202-282-8010
Caren Auchman, GSA, 202-525-8165
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano and General Services Administration (GSA) Acting Administrator Paul Prouty held a ceremonial groundbreaking today to commence consolidation of a new DHS headquarters at the St. Elizabeths Campus.
This project—partially funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA)—will create direct employment opportunities for thousands of people in the Washington region while preserving a National Historic Landmark.
“The Department of Homeland Security continues to unify our many components into one cohesive agency with a shared central mission,” said Secretary Napolitano. “The construction of our new headquarters at St. Elizabeths using Recovery Act funding will help consolidate more than 35 offices in the Washington area while creating thousands of local jobs.”
“The development of the new Department of Homeland Security campus has been an enormous undertaking and a collaborative effort involving many officials, groups, and individuals,” said Acting Administrator Prouty. “GSA’s work will preserve the key historic features of this National Historic Landmark and provide an energy efficient campus for DHS.”
Secretary Napolitano and Acting Administrator Prouty were joined by U.S. Senator Joe Lieberman, U.S. Representative Eleanor Holmes Norton, Washington Mayor Adrian Fenty, Washington Councilman Marion Barry and the construction team currently working on the DHS headquarters consolidation project.
DHS currently operates in more than 35 offices around the National Capitol Region and expects to save taxpayers $163 million over the next 30 years by moving to a consolidated headquarters.
The project is the largest in the Washington metro area since the building of the Pentagon and will help revitalize and spur development in the Southeast Washington’s Anacostia community.
Last month, GSA awarded a $435 million contract to design the site’s first phase—the new, energy-efficient 1.18 million-square-foot Coast Guard headquarters facility—to Clark Design Build, LLC, a contractor local to the Washington metro area.
The Coast Guard facility will receive LEED Silver certification from the U.S. Green Building Council, incorporating state-of-the-art efficiency technologies, including green roofs, landscaped courtyards to capture and reuse surface water runoff, and innovative heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems.
Of the $435 million award, $162 million comes from the Recovery Act—including $127.7 million from GSA and $34.5 million from DHS. Occupancy of the new Coast Guard headquarters is expected to begin in 2013.
In total, the Recovery Act allocated $200 million to DHS and $450 million to GSA for construction of a new DHS headquarters at St. Elizabeths.
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