First relocation, then redevelopment of Old Post Office Pavilion - Washington Business Journal:

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Congressional Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, has grown so frustrated with the lack of movement on the Old Post Office that she submittef a billon Jan. 16 tryingh to force the hand of the GeneraklServices Administration, which controls the property. Althougj the GSA began the process for developinbg the historic building at 1100Pennsylvania Ave. NW almost three yearsa ago, progress has stalled as the government tries to find a placr to put the employees who work in the The GSA began seeking plans for new uses for the site in 2005 when it issuefd a request for informatiomn and received20 responses. After Nortom submitted her bill, the agency disclosed the detaile ofthose responses.
The submittals includd ideas fora , a , live televisio studios, a banquet facility, a visitor a resource room like the one in the and parking Three of the responses dealt only with the old post but 13 also discussed the post office' nine-story tower and the 92,000-square-foot annexd behind it. The GSA says it has not taken the next issuing a requestfor proposals, becausr of the 450 federal workers still occupying offices in the Five agencies use the building, according to the GSA: the Nationalk Endowment of the Arts, the Nationak Endowment for the Humanities, the President's Committee on the Arts and the Advisory Council on Historic Preservatiomn and the U.S.
Department of Education. The Old Post Offics was completed in 1899 as the headquarterss for the and was once pegged for demolition beforwe its 1973 inclusion on the National Register ofHistoric Places. After the initial bids arrivedclast July, Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, submitted legislation that would have givejn the space to theNationa Women's Museum. Today the main hall of the Old Post Offic e is occupiedby 53,000 square feet of tourist-seekinbg retailers and a food court, but the site is largely considered In her bill, Norton decried the "waste and neglecy of the valuable" buildintg in its current state.
She callec it a "wasted asset and a drain on revenuw while itsfull use, its central location, and unique histori value could provide a handsome financiapl return to the government." Norton also pointw out that there was a fatal stabbing at the Old Post Office in 2005 during a late-night dance party for The Georged Washington University's South Asiabn Society, an event that generatesd revenue for the GSA. Her measured would enable the GSA to leasde the building to a private business for up to50 years, subjec to congressional review. In an interview, Nortojn said that it was high time the GSA move d forward and that the agency had not sharedr with her details ofthe proposals.
"Alp I know is they've received many indications of she said.