WASHINGTON, DC-Last week the Office of Management and Budget Controller Danny Werfel issued a management procedures memorandum directing all federal departments and agencies to implement a "Freeze the Footprint" policy for federal real estate. To get a sense of how the policy will be implemented, read Colliers International's Kurt Stout's analysis. To get a sense of how DC area landlords feel about the move, well, use your imagination. To get a sense of how the General Services Administration feels about it, read on.

Jones Lang LaSalle's Chris Roth represents GSA in transactions and his take is that the agency is mostly likely pleased with the mandate.

"I would say that GSA sees this is a return to its original mission of de-risking leasing operations for federal agencies," Roth tells GlobeSt.com. "They are a clearing house for federal space –that is their core function and mission and this mandate puts them back in that role."

GSA also probably sees this as a way to continue its momentum in paring its obsolete space. The timing of this memo is excellent, Roth noted, following on the heels of the sale of the Georgetown West Heating plant. "A while back, if you had asked me if GSA and the government were ready for a step like "Freeze the Footprint" I would have said they need a few wins first. Well, now they have those wins, at least one, and are ready to build momentum."

More than likely, GSA will wind up with a lot of vacant space on its hands, Roth says. That will be a good sign, at least to GSA, "because it means that the government agencies and departments are consolidating their space and becoming more efficient." When enough space has consolidated, he says, "it will be disposed of."