U.S. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) in 2009. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
In one of his last actions in office, former mayor Vince Gray announced the selection of a development team to redevelop the St. Elizabeths East campus in Ward 8.
While that proposed redevelop moves forward, the redevelopment of another part of the St. Elizabeths campus—on federally owned land across Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue SE—will eventually become a new headquarters for the Department of Homeland Security.
In a letter to President Barack Obama, D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton wants to be sure that development will continue, asking him to continue to include funding in the FY2016 budget.
Two weeks ago, the House of Representatives approved $48.6 million for the consolidation of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) at the Center Building of the St. Elizabeths campus. This is in addition to the $188 million that the Senate provided in order to improve the St. Elizabeths buildings in December. It’s not the $323 million ($73 million in House appropriations and $250 million in Senate funding) that had originally been proposed for the project, but it’s something for which Norton still expressed her appreciation considering that some lawmakers wanted to cut funding to the project entirely.
The current allocation will allow Department Secretary Jeh Johnson and his 700 person staff to move into St. Elizabeths. Norton insists his presence should be a sufficient push to finish the buildings and make the move safer. “In an era of new concerns about terrorism, we ask that you move to quickly complete this project,” she writes.
Norton also points out that when completed, St. Elizabeths could hold up to 20,000 DHS employees and that there are currently 14,000 employees inconveniently located in forty separate locations around the area.
Additionally, Norton also asks Obama to “support any request the city makes” to continue funding for the District-owned St. Elizabeths East Campus, which, when completed, could be seen as one of the Gray administration’s signature accomplishments, and be known for more than just its ice slide.
You can read the full letter below:
President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, DC 20500Dear Mr. President:
We are very grateful for the commitment you have shown to a new, necessary consolidated headquarters for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on the St. Elizabeths campus in Ward 8 in the District of Columbia. Your fiscal year 2015 budget included critical funding to continue consolidation. The fiscal year 2015 appropriation was especially appreciated because it ensures that the DHS Secretary and his 700-person staff will be able to move to the Center Building and its surrounding buildings. In an era of new concerns about terrorism, we ask that you move to quickly complete this project.
The presence of the Secretary at St. Elizabeths makes necessary that the government move to more rapidly consolidate the headquarters and reduce costly, far-flung leased space for federal agencies. Now that the Coast Guard headquarters building is complete and agency employees are housed in a new building, it is critical to fund infrastructure improvements to accommodate the large number of employees scheduled to come to the campus.
When complete, the consolidated headquarters will increase efficiency by allowing the federal government to co-locate over 14,000 DHS employees who are now scattered in 40 locations throughout the region and to replace expensive leased space by moving agencies into government-owned space, directing lease revenue to the Federal Buildings Fund, which uses agency rental payments to fund the construction and maintenance of federal real estate instead of private real estate. With new employee footprint requirements, it is possible the consolidated headquarters could house as many as 20,000 DHS employees. In addition, the construction of the consolidated headquarters will continue to generate thousands of construction jobs, with 40 percent of the subcontracts going to small and disadvantaged businesses. Unfortunately, the reduction in appropriations for the project has increased the total project cost by millions of dollars, because of the loss of integrated construction sequencing, as well as the cost of lease holdovers and short-term lease extensions for agencies that were expecting to move to the headquarters between 2013 and 2017. Any further reductions in appropriations will continue to substantially increase the total cost of this vital project, which was on budget and on time until the cuts began.
We also strongly support any request the city makes to continue to fund development of the District-owned St. Elizabeths East Campus, which is essential to consolidation. The East Campus will house the Federal Emergency Management Agency and amenities to support the 14,000 to 20,000 federal employees who will move to the West Campus. The District recently opened the St. Elizabeths Gateway Pavilion on the East Campus, a multi-purpose outdoor structure to benefit the growing presence of federal employees at St. Elizabeths, the first to work at a federal agency east of the Anacostia River in Ward 8 with retail, a farmers market and other amenities that have long been needed there.
Thank you for your consideration and your continued support for the DHS consolidated headquarters at the St. Elizabeths.
Sincerely,
Eleanor Holmes Norton
