The federal government’s first count of how much of its office space gets used left out more than 20 million square feet of empty space. That’s the finding of a Government Accountability Office audit, GAO-27-108503, released Oct. 15. GAO says the omission made dozens of buildings look busier than they are, just as a new 60% utilization floor gets ready to start forcing consolidations.
ENR reported the details Oct. 19. The missing space totals 20.2 million usable square feet of General Services Administration-controlled property: about 15 million in federally owned buildings and 5.2 million in leases.
Where the vacant federal office space hides
Most of it isn’t in shuttered buildings. About 15.6 million square feet, more than three-quarters of the total, sits as empty floors inside partially occupied properties. The other 4.6 million is in 155 fully vacant buildings or leases.
The partial vacancies are what move the numbers. GAO flagged 72 properties, 55 owned and 17 leased, that reported at least 60% utilization but could fall below it once vacant space is counted. One California federal building drops from 68% to 57% when 33,482 empty square feet go into the math. A Michigan lease falls from 78% to 58% with just 5,737 vacant square feet added.
Method matters as much as vacancy. At State Department headquarters, the formula in the 2025 USE IT Act yields 55% utilization. The agency’s own workstation-based measure, which leaves out lobbies, cafeterias, conference rooms and libraries, says 87%.
The 60% rule and what triggers action
The USE IT Act sets a 60% minimum. After the 2027 reporting cycle, GSA and the Office of Management and Budget have to act on space that stays below that level two years running, subject to exceptions. GAO recommended GSA give Congress building-level utilization data that counts vacant space and make agency reporting more consistent. GSA neither agreed nor disagreed and said it would consider the recommendations with OMB.
GSA has acknowledged the data’s limits before. When the first government-wide figures came out in March, Administrator Edward Forst called them “imperfect” and said, “With the problem defined, we can act.” In June, Andrew Heller, acting commissioner of GSA’s Public Buildings Service, told a House Transportation and Infrastructure subcommittee the numbers weren’t necessarily an apples-to-apples comparison.
What federal office consolidation means for contractors
Consolidation is construction work. Agency officials told GAO that packing more staff into older buildings can mean moving walls, adding workstations and replacing mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems. GSA and the Office of Personnel Management plan to move into GSA’s headquarters at 1800 F St. NW in 2028, behind a $239 million renovation covering interiors and electrical, HVAC and plumbing upgrades, and GSA plans to dispose of the building the two agencies occupy now. The Department of Homeland Security has at least 15 space-reduction projects totaling 95,000 square feet, and the Department of Veterans Affairs used the data to back a lease cut of nearly 150,000 square feet.
David Marroni, a director in GAO’s Physical Infrastructure team, told ENR that contractors should expect consolidations and disposals to increase over the next several years, though he said utilization shouldn’t be the only factor and renovation cost matters. Nick Rahall of the Public Buildings Reform Board told Federal News Network in July that the board had found leaking roofs, unsafe elevators and flooded basements, and that Congress doesn’t appropriate enough to renovate everything the government owns.
That’s the tension for builders. Backfill moves create interior and MEP work in the receiving buildings, while surplus properties head toward sale and, in some cities, residential conversion. Washington already has examples, such as the 1255 23rd Street NW office-to-residential conversion. The first two-year clock under the 60% rule runs out after 2027, so the backlog starts building in 2028.