[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 244 (Wednesday, December 18, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 66668-66669]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-32061]


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GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION

[GSA Bulletin FPMR D-239, Supplement 1]


Implementation of the Delegation of Lease Acquisition Authority

AGENCY: Office of Governmentwide Policy, GSA.

ACTION: Notice of bulletin.

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SUMMARY: The attached bulletin announces the details for the 
implementation of the Delegation of Lease Acquisition Authority from 
the General Services Administration.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Ms. Marjorie L. Lomax, Director, Evaluation and Outreach, Office of 
Real Property on (202) 501-0379 or the OGP homepage at: http://
policyworks.gov/org/main/mp/linkit.htm.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Public Buildings and Space
To: Heads of Federal Agencies

Subject: Implementation of the Delegation of Lease Acquisition 
Authority
    1. Purpose. This bulletin announces the details for the 
implementation of the Delegation of Lease Acquisition Authority from 
the General Services Administration (GSA).
    2. Expiration. This bulletin contains information of a continuing 
nature and will remain in effect until canceled.
    3. Background. a. The Administrator of General Services signed a 
letter on September 25, 1996, to the heads of all Federal agencies 
announcing the new ``Can't Beat GSA Leasing'' program and delegating 
authority to them to lease space on their own. This bulletin provides 
details about the delegation.
    b. Federal agencies now have an option to either use GSA when a new 
lease is necessary or conduct the lease procurement themselves. The 
delegation program includes some conditions which agencies need to meet 
when the procurement is not performed by GSA. These conditions, 
discussed below, include training in lease contracting, and reporting 
data to GSA. Beyond this, GSA's Office of Governmentwide Policy (OGP) 
will evaluate the effectiveness of the Government's leasing program.
    c. One condition of the delegation is the use of adequately trained 
lease contracting officers for procurements. To assist agencies in any 
training necessary for their personnel, we are sharing information on 
what GSA does. Our specialists complete, at a minimum, five basic 
formal training courses. Beyond these courses, GSA requires a 
combination of hands-on experience and additional training in 
development of space requirements, Federal real property leasing 
policies and procedures, space planning, budgeting and property 
administration. The basic formal training courses are:
    1. Federal Real Property Leasing or Basic Lease Contracting.
    2. Government Contract Negotiating or Federal Real Property Leases.
    3. Cost and Price Analysis of Leasing Proposals.
    4. Real Estate Law or Federal Real Property Lease Law.
    5. Real Estate Appraisal Principles.
    d. The OGP develops, coordinates and issues Governmentwide policy 
as well as evaluates and assesses the effectiveness of policy 
implementation. In evaluating the effectiveness of the leasing program, 
Federal agencies will be asked to work together with OGP on reviews of 
this program. Those agencies using the delegation are asked to provide 
OGP with leasing performance data every six months. This data, along 
with data from GSA's Public Buildings Service, will permit OGP to 
analyze and evaluate the overall Governmentwide leasing program and 
recommend fine-tuning to improve it. Initial reports should be provided 
by April 30, 1997, and include all actions through the end of March 
1997. Specific information regarding data collection is noted below.
4. Action
    a. Federal agencies operating under this program are subject to the 
conditions and reporting requirements of the delegation of authority.
    (1) The semi-annual performance reports are due April 30, and 
October 31.
    (2) Report should be sent to the GSA, OGP, Office of Real Property 
Policy (MP), 18th & F Streets, NW., Room 6223, Washington, DC 20405.
    (3) Reports should be presented in a spreadsheet format with a disk 
containing the data.
    (4) The following definitions are provided for reporting data:
    (a) Contract Number.
    (b) Building Address--Street address, city and state of the leased 
building.
    (c) CBA--Is this building within the Central Business Area (CBA)? 
(Yes or No)
    (d) Number of Offers Received--The number of offers received in 
response to the requirement.
    (e) Rentable Sq. Ft.--The area for which rent is charged. It is 
based on the local commercial method of measurement.
    (f) ANSI (BOMA) Usable Sq. Ft.--The assignable space used by the 
agency's personnel and furnishings. It is measured to the inside finish 
of the dominant portion (e.g. window glass line) of permanent exterior 
walls. It also includes circulation within the space assignment. This 
term replaces GSA's ``Occupiable'' space measurement.
    (g) Rental Range--Provide the high and low dollar per sq. ft. rates 
for acceptable properties found during the market survey and from best 
and final offers received. (Specify method of measurement used for 
square foot rates.)
    (h) Effective Rent Rate--The rate is obtained by dividing the total 
rent to be paid over the lease term (after deducting from the total 
rent any credits due such as cash payments to adjust for rent-free 
periods or stepped rents from the lessor) by the length of the lease 
term. This is then divided by the rentable square feet in the lease. 
Estimated CPI escalations and tax escalations are not to be included in 
this calculation.
    (i) Annual Contract rent--Total annual rent.
    (j) Effective date of Lease--Date the lease takes effect.
    (k) Expiration Date--Date the current lease term expires.
    (l) Lease Term--The specific terms of the lease including any 
cancellations or renewal rights.
    (m) Completion Time--The total number of days required from GSA 
notice of no suitable available space to lease award.
    (n) Build-Out Time--The total number of days required from contract 
award to space occupancy.
    (o) Comments--This should include information pertinent to the 
leasing action including whether fully serviced or what services are 
not provided as part of the lease and the cost of such services (e.g. 
electricity, cleaning, etc.).
    (b) Further information regarding this program may be obtained by 
contacting Ms. Marjorie L. Lomax, Director, Evaluation and Outreach, 
Office of Real Property on (202) 501-0379 or the OGP homepage at: 
http://policyworks.gov/org/main/mp/linkit.htm.


[[Page 66669]]


    Dated: December 9, 1996.
G. Martin Wagner,
Associate Administrator for Governmentwide Policy.
[FR Doc. 96-32061 Filed 12-17-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6820-23-M